Metastable Resistance Anisotropy Orientation of Two-Dimensional Electrons in High Landau Levels

Abstract

In half-filled high Landau levels, two-dimensional electron systems possess collective phases which exhibit a strongly anisotropic resistivity tensor. A weak, but as yet unknown, rotational symmetry-breaking potential native to the host semiconductor structure is necessary to orient these phases in macroscopic samples. Making use of the known external symmetry-breaking effect of an in-plane magnetic field, we find that the native potential can have two orthogonal local minima. It is possible to initialize the system in the higher minimum and then observe its relaxation toward equilibrium.

arXiv comment5 pages, 3 figures. Figure references corrected. Version accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters

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Cited by in corpus (18)

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• Possible nematic to smectic phase transition in a two-dimensional electron gas at half-filling
• Heterostructure Symmetry and the Orientation of the Quantum Hall Nematic Phases
• Pinning mode resonances of 2D electron stripe phases: Effect of in-plane magnetic field
• Anisotropic Sliding Dynamics, Peak Effect, and Metastability in Stripe Systems
• Reorientation of quantum Hall stripes within a partially filled Landau level
• Effect of density on quantum Hall stripe orientation in tilted magnetic fields
• Spin and charge distribution symmetry dependence of stripe phases in two-dimensional electron systems confined to wide quantum wells
• Observation of An Anisotropic Wigner Crystal
• Isotropically conducting (hidden) quantum Hall stripe phases in a two-dimensional electron gas
• Apparent temperature-induced reorientation of quantum Hall stripes
• Charge metastability and hysteresis in the quantum Hall regime
• Orientation of hole quantum Hall nematic phases in an out-of-plane electric field
• Quantum Hall stripes in high-density GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells
• Metastable anisotropy orientation of nematic quantum Hall fluids
• Anisotropic conductivity tensor on a half-filled high Landau level