Abstract
Two-dimensional (2D) electronic systems can exhibit dramatic drops in resistivity, ρx x, as the temperature T→0, which has renewed debate as to whether 2D systems may have a metallic ground state. The metallic behaviour is only observed in low-disorder systems, where interactions between the carriers are strong. However, the strength of the metallic behaviour is not universal, with decreases in resistivity ranging from a few per cent to an order of magnitude as T→0. Here, we compare the metallic behaviour in 2D systems dominated by long- and short-range disorder. We thereby highlight the pivotal role played by the type of disorder in determining the strength of metallic behaviour in these systems. In doing so, we resolve recent confusion in the literature that has arisen from the application of interaction-based theories of metallic behaviour to 2D systems whose disorder environments are inconsistent with the assumptions made by these theories.
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Acknowledgements
This work was funded by the Australian Research Council and the EPSRC. A.P.M. acknowledges an ARC Postdoctoral Fellowship, A.R.H. acknowledges an ARC Professorial Fellowship, and M.Y.S. a Federation Fellowship.
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W.R.C. fabricated the induced SISFET, carried out the low-temperature magnetotransport measurements, carried out data analysis, assisted with the concept and design of the experiment and wrote the paper. C.E.Y. carried out low-temperature measurements of the HHMT and fitted the low-temperature data. A.R.H. conceived and designed the experiments, fabricated the HHMT, assisted with low-temperature magnetotransport measurements, analysed the data and prepared the manuscript. A.P.M. carried out low-temperature magnetotransport measurements and contributed to the manuscript. M.Y.S. grew the HHMT heterostructure, assisted with the design of the experiment and data analysis and contributed to the manuscript. The SISFET heterostructure was grown and supplied by K.M. and Y.H. and the HHMT heterostructure was supplied by M.P. and D.A.R.
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Clarke, W., Yasin, C., Hamilton, A. et al. Impact of long- and short-range disorder on the metallic behaviour of two-dimensional systems. Nature Phys 4, 55–59 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys757
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys757
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