Letter abstract
Nature Physics
Published online: 5 October 2008 | doi:10.1038/nphys1094
Wigner crystallization in a quasi-three-dimensional electronic system
B. A. Piot1, Z. Jiang2,3, C. R. Dean1, L. W. Engel2, G. Gervais1, L. N. Pfeiffer4 & K. W. West4
When a strong magnetic field is applied perpendicularly (along z) to a sheet confining electrons to two dimensions (x–y), highly correlated states emerge as a result of the interplay between electron–electron interactions, confinement and disorder. These so-called fractional quantum Hall liquids1 form a series of states that ultimately give way to a periodic electron solid that crystallizes at high magnetic fields. This quantum phase of electrons has been identified previously as a disorder-pinned two-dimensional Wigner crystal with broken translational symmetry in the x–y plane2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Here, we report our discovery of a new insulating quantum phase of electrons when, in addition to a perpendicular field, a very high magnetic field is applied in a geometry parallel (y direction) to the two-dimensional electron sheet. Our data point towards this new quantum phase being an electron solid in a 'quasi-three-dimensional' configuration induced by orbital coupling with the parallel field.
- Department of Physics, McGill University, Montreal, H3A 2T8, Canada
- National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Tallahassee, Florida 32310, USA
- Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA
- Bell Labs, Alcatel-Lucent Incorporation, Murray Hill, New Jersey 07974, USA
Correspondence to: G. Gervais1 e-mail: gervais@physics.mcgill.ca
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