Critical Filling Factor for the Formation of a Quantum Wigner Crystal Screened by a Nearby Layer

Abstract

One of the most fascinating ground states of an interacting electron system is the so-called Wigner crystal where the electrons, in order to minimize their repulsive Coulomb energy, form an ordered array. Here we report measurements of the critical filling factor (${\nu }_C$) below which a magnetic-field-induced, quantum Wigner crystal forms in a dilute, two-dimensional electron layer when a second, high-density electron layer is present in close proximity. The data reveal that the Wigner crystal forms at a significantly smaller ${\nu }_C$ compared to the ${\nu }_C$ ($\simeq 0.20$) in single-layer two-dimensional electron systems. The measured ${\nu }_C$ exhibits a strong dependence on the interlayer distance, reflecting the interaction and screening from the adjacent, high-density layer.

arXiv commentThe formal version is published on Phys. Rev. B (2018)

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Cited by in corpus (2)

• Probing the Melting of a Two-dimensional Quantum Wigner Crystal via its Screening Efficiency
• A novel planar back-gate design to control the carrier concentrations in GaAs-based double quantum wells