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Zero-resistance states induced by electromagnetic-wave excitation in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures

Nature volume 420, pages 646–650 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

The observation of vanishing electrical resistance in condensed matter has led to the discovery of new phenomena such as, for example, superconductivity, where a zero-resistance state can be detected in a metal below a transition temperature Tc (ref. 1). More recently, quantum Hall effects were discovered from investigations of zero-resistance states at low temperatures and high magnetic fields in two-dimensional electron systems (2DESs)2,3,4. In quantum Hall systems and superconductors, zero-resistance states often coincide with the appearance of a gap in the energy spectrum1,2,4. Here we report the observation of zero-resistance states and energy gaps in a surprising setting5: ultrahigh-mobility GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures that contain a 2DES exhibit vanishing diagonal resistance without Hall resistance quantization at low temperatures and low magnetic fields when the specimen is subjected to electromagnetic wave excitation. Zero-resistance-states occur about magnetic fields B = 4/5 Bf and B = 4/9 Bf, where Bf = 2πfm*/e,m* is the electron mass, e is the electron charge, and f is the electromagnetic-wave frequency. Activated transport measurements on the resistance minima also indicate an energy gap at the Fermi level6. The results suggest an unexpected radiation-induced, electronic-state-transition in the GaAs/AlGaAs 2DES.

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Figure 1: The Hall effect and the magnetoresistance in a high-mobility 2DES, with and without electromagnetic-wave excitation.
Figure 2: The development of the radiation-induced zero-resistance states with the electromagnetic-wave frequency, f.
Figure 3: The dependence of the magnetoresistance upon the radiation power, current and the temperature.
Figure 4: Energy commensurability, inter-Landau-level electron–hole excitations, and the pairing conjecture.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge discussions with E. Demler, H. Fertig, R. Gerhardts, W. Hanke, C. Kallin, M. Kruger, L. Manchanda, S. Mikhailov, A. Stern and M. Tinkham. This work has been supported by the ARO, BMBF, CSR at SRC, DFG and GIF.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gordon McKay Laboratory of Applied Science, Harvard University, 9 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, USA

    Ramesh G. Mani & Venkatesh Narayanamurti

  2. Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, Heisenbergstrasse 1, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany

    Ramesh G. Mani, Jürgen H. Smet & Klaus von Klitzing

  3. Pierce Hall, Harvard University, 29 Oxford Street, Massachusetts, 02138, Cambridge, USA

    Venkatesh Narayanamurti

  4. Laboratory for Physical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 20740, USA

    William B. Johnson

  5. Braun Center for Submicron Research, Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, 76100, Israel

    Vladimir Umansky

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  1. Ramesh G. Mani
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Correspondence to Ramesh G. Mani.

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Mani, R., Smet, J., von Klitzing, K. et al. Zero-resistance states induced by electromagnetic-wave excitation in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures. Nature 420, 646–650 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01277

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