Magnetic Field Induced Instabilities in Localised Two-Dimensional Electron Systems

TL;DR

This paper investigates how magnetic fields induce resistance oscillations and instabilities in localized two-dimensional electron systems, revealing complex interactions between electron phases and disorder.

Contribution

It reports density-dependent resistance oscillations in localized 2DES under magnetic fields, highlighting a novel interplay between electron interactions and disorder.

Findings

Resistance oscillations increase with magnetic field strength.

Oscillation positions are unaffected by density changes.

Unusual temperature dependence of resistance observed.

Abstract

We report density dependent instabilities in the localised regime of mesoscopic two-dimensional electron systems (2DES) with intermediate strength of background disorder. They are manifested by strong resistance oscillations induced by high perpendicular magnetic fields B_{\perp}. While the amplitude of the oscillations is strongly enhanced with increasing B_{\perp}, their position in density remains unaffected. The observation is accompanied by an unusual behaviour of the temperature dependence of resistance and activation energies. We suggest the interplay between a strongly interacting electron phase and the background disorder as a possible explanation.