Scanning capacitance imaging of compressible and incompressible quantum Hall effect edge strips

We use dynamic scanning capacitance microscopy to image compressible and incompressible strips at the edge of a Hall bar in a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the quantum Hall effect (QHE) regime. This method gives access to the complex local conductance, G _ts , between a sharp metallic tip s...

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Main Authors: M E Suddards, A Baumgartner, M Henini, C J Mellor
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2012-01-01
Series:New Journal of Physics
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/14/8/083015
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author M E Suddards
A Baumgartner
M Henini
C J Mellor
author_facet M E Suddards
A Baumgartner
M Henini
C J Mellor
author_sort M E Suddards
collection DOAJ
description We use dynamic scanning capacitance microscopy to image compressible and incompressible strips at the edge of a Hall bar in a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the quantum Hall effect (QHE) regime. This method gives access to the complex local conductance, G _ts , between a sharp metallic tip scanned across the sample surface and ground, comprising the complex sample conductance. Near integer filling factors we observe a bright stripe along the sample edge in the imaginary part of G _ts . The simultaneously recorded real part exhibits a sharp peak at the boundary between the sample interior and the stripe observed in the imaginary part. The features are periodic in the inverse magnetic field and consistent with compressible and incompressible strips forming at the sample edge. For currents larger than the critical current of the QHE break-down the stripes vanish sharply and a homogeneous signal is recovered, similar to zero magnetic field. Our experiments directly illustrate the formation and a variety of properties of the conceptually important QHE edge states at the physical edge of a 2DEG.
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spelling doaj.art-c9e8c4d4cf2d4ffa8da0268a969d6e792023-08-08T11:10:09ZengIOP PublishingNew Journal of Physics1367-26302012-01-0114808301510.1088/1367-2630/14/8/083015Scanning capacitance imaging of compressible and incompressible quantum Hall effect edge stripsM E Suddards0A Baumgartner1M Henini2C J Mellor3School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham , Nottingham NG7 2RD, UKSchool of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham , Nottingham NG7 2RD, UKSchool of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham , Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK; Nottingham Nanotechnology and Nanoscience Centre, University of Nottingham , Nottingham NG7 2RD, UKSchool of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham , Nottingham NG7 2RD, UKWe use dynamic scanning capacitance microscopy to image compressible and incompressible strips at the edge of a Hall bar in a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the quantum Hall effect (QHE) regime. This method gives access to the complex local conductance, G _ts , between a sharp metallic tip scanned across the sample surface and ground, comprising the complex sample conductance. Near integer filling factors we observe a bright stripe along the sample edge in the imaginary part of G _ts . The simultaneously recorded real part exhibits a sharp peak at the boundary between the sample interior and the stripe observed in the imaginary part. The features are periodic in the inverse magnetic field and consistent with compressible and incompressible strips forming at the sample edge. For currents larger than the critical current of the QHE break-down the stripes vanish sharply and a homogeneous signal is recovered, similar to zero magnetic field. Our experiments directly illustrate the formation and a variety of properties of the conceptually important QHE edge states at the physical edge of a 2DEG.https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/14/8/083015
spellingShingle M E Suddards
A Baumgartner
M Henini
C J Mellor
Scanning capacitance imaging of compressible and incompressible quantum Hall effect edge strips
New Journal of Physics
title Scanning capacitance imaging of compressible and incompressible quantum Hall effect edge strips
title_full Scanning capacitance imaging of compressible and incompressible quantum Hall effect edge strips
title_fullStr Scanning capacitance imaging of compressible and incompressible quantum Hall effect edge strips
title_full_unstemmed Scanning capacitance imaging of compressible and incompressible quantum Hall effect edge strips
title_short Scanning capacitance imaging of compressible and incompressible quantum Hall effect edge strips
title_sort scanning capacitance imaging of compressible and incompressible quantum hall effect edge strips
url https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/14/8/083015
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