Competition between a Fractional Quantum Hall Liquid and Bubble and Wigner Crystal Phases in the Third Landau Level

2004/02/29 by G. Gervais, L. W. Engel, H. L. Stormer +5
Physics and Astronomy · #Magnetic properties of thin films #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #cond-mat.mes-hall

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.93.266804

Phys. Rev. Lett.93 266804 (2004)

arxiv created 2004/12/21 · openalex publication_date 2004/12/21 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

Magnetotransport measurements were performed in an ultrahigh mobility GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well of density \ensuremath∼3.0\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi10¹¹ cm^\ensuremath-2. The temperature dependence of the magnetoresistance R_xx was studied in detail in the vicinity of \ensuremathν=(9)/(2). In particular, we discovered new minima in R_xx at a filling factor \ensuremathν\ensuremath≃4(1)/(5) and 4(4)/(5), but only at intermediate temperatures 80\ensuremath\lesssimT\ensuremath\lesssim120 mK. We interpret these as evidence for a fractional quantum Hall liquid forming in the N=2 Landau level and competing with bubble and Wigner crystal phases favored at lower temperatures. Our data suggest that a magnetically driven insulator-insulator quantum phase transition occurs between the bubble and Wigner crystal phases at T=0.

Citations

• Stability and Effective Masses of Composite Fermions in the First and Second Landau Level
• Liquid-crystal phases of quantum Hall systems
• Competition between quantum-liquid and electron-solid phases in intermediate Landau levels