Phase Separation of Edge States in the Integer Quantum Hall Regime

Abstract

Coulomb effects on the edge states of a two dimensional electron gas in the presence of a high magnetic field are studied for different widths of the boundaries. Schrödinger and Poisson equations are selfconsistently solved in the integer Quantum Hall regime. Regions of flat bands at the Fermi level appear for smooth interfaces in order to minimize the electrostatic energy related to the existence of dipoles induced by the magnetic field. These plateaus determine the phase separation in stripes of compressible and incompressible electron liquids.

8 pages, Revtex 3.0, 3 postscript figures