Tunneling between two-dimensional electron gases in a strong magnetic field

Precursors to Exciton Condensation in Quantum Hall Bilayers

Tunneling spectroscopy reveals evidence for interlayer electron-hole correlations in quantum Hall bilayer two-dimensional electron systems at layer separations near, but above, the transition to the incompressible exciton condensate at total Landau level filling ν_{T}=1. These correlations are manifested by a nonlinear suppression of the Coulomb pseudogap which inhibits low energy interlayer tunneling in weakly coupled bilayers. The pseudogap suppression is strongest at ν_{T}=1 and grows rapidly as the critical layer separation for exciton condensation is approached from above.

Effect of Magnetization on the Tunneling Anomaly in Compressible Quantum Hall States

Tunneling of electrons into a two-dimensional electron system is known to exhibit an anomaly at low bias, in which the tunneling conductance vanishes due to a many-body interaction effect. Recent experiments have measured this anomaly between two copies of the half-filled Landau level as a function of in-plane magnetic field, and they suggest that increasing spin polarization drives a deeper suppression of tunneling. Here, we present a theory of the tunneling anomaly between two copies of the partially spin-polarized Halperin-Lee-Read state, and we show that the conventional description of the tunneling anomaly, based on the Coulomb self-energy of the injected charge packet, is inconsistent with the experimental observation. We propose that the experiment is operating in a different regime, not previously considered, in which the charge-spreading action is determined by the compressibility of the composite fermions.

Evidence for Defect-Mediated Tunneling in Hexagonal Boron Nitride-Based Junctions

We investigate electron tunneling through atomically thin layers of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). Metal (Cr/Au) and semimetal (graphite) counter-electrodes are employed. While the direct tunneling resistance increases nearly exponentially with barrier thickness as expected, the thicker junctions also exhibit clear signatures of Coulomb blockade, including strong suppression of the tunnel current around zero bias and step-like features in the current at larger biases. The voltage separation of these steps suggests that single-electron charging of nanometer-scale defects in the hBN barrier layer are responsible for these signatures. We find that annealing the metal-hBN-metal junctions removes these defects and the Coulomb blockade signatures in the tunneling current.

Tunneling spectroscopy of a two-dimensionally periodic electron system

The tunneling current between an electron gas with a periodic potential in two dimensions and a plain two-dimensional electron system (2DES) has been studied. The strength of the periodic potential, the subband energy of the plain 2DES, and an applied in-plane magnetic field were varied, mapping the Fourier transform of the periodic wave function. Periodic peaks were observed and explained by translations in the reciprocal lattice. When the potential was strongly modulated to form an array of antidots, commensurability peaks were seen in lateral transport, but, as expected, not in tunneling.

Strong enhancement of drag and dissipation at the weak- to strong-coupling phase transition in a bilayer system at a total Landau level filling nu = 1

We consider a bilayer electronic system at a total Landau level filling factor nu = 1, and focus on the transition from the regime of weak interlayer coupling to that of the strongly coupled (1,1,1) phase (or "quantum Hall ferromagnet"). Making the assumption that in the transition region the system is made of puddles of the (1,1,1) phase embedded in a bulk of the weakly coupled state, we show that the transition is accompanied by a strong increase in longitudinal Coulomb drag that reaches a maximum of approximately h/2e(2). In that regime the longitudinal drag increases with decreasing temperature.

Resonantly enhanced tunneling in a double layer quantum hall ferromagnet

The tunneling conductance between two parallel 2D electron systems has been measured in a regime of strong interlayer Coulomb correlations. At total Landau level filling nuT=1 the tunnel spectrum changes qualitatively when the boundary separating the compressible phase from the ferromagnetic quantized Hall state is crossed. A huge resonant enhancement replaces the strongly suppressed equilibrium tunneling characteristic of weakly coupled layers. The possible relationship of this enhancement to the Goldstone mode of the broken symmetry ground state is discussed.