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Letter

Nature Physics 2, 239–243 (1 April 2006) | doi:10.1038/nphys273

Optical probing of composite fermions in a two-dimensional electron gas

M. Byszewski , B. Chwalisz , D. K. Maude , M. L. Sadowski , M. Potemski , T. Saku , Y. Hirayama , S. Studenikin , D. G. Austing , A. S. Sachrajda & P. Hawrylak

In a high magnetic field, electrons confined to two dimensions form highly correlated states driven entirely by electron–electron interactions. Transport and cyclotron-resonance experiments on these fractional quantum Hall effect states, and the associated fractionally charged excitations, suggest the existence of composite fermions—electrons with two flux quanta attached.