Effect of electron-electron scattering on magnetointersubband resistance oscillations of two-dimensional electrons in GaAs quantum wells

TL;DR

This study investigates how electron-electron scattering affects magnetointersubband oscillations in two-dimensional electrons within GaAs quantum wells, revealing temperature-dependent suppression linked to electron interactions and confirming the oscillations' fundamental sensitivity to these effects.

Contribution

It demonstrates that electron-electron scattering significantly suppresses magnetointersubband oscillations at higher temperatures, highlighting the fundamental role of electron interactions in magnetoresistance phenomena.

Findings

Magnetointersubband oscillations persist up to k=100 at 4.2 K.

Temperature increases suppress oscillations due to electron-electron scattering.

Results align with recent experiments, emphasizing the second-order Dingle factor's role.

Abstract

The low-temperature($4.2<T<12.5$ K) magnetotransport ($B<2$ T) of two-dimensional electrons occupying two subbands (with energy $E_1$ and $E_2$) is investigated in GaAs single quantum well with AlAs/GaAs superlattice barriers. Two series of Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations are found to be accompanied by magnetointersubband (MIS) oscillations, periodic in the inverse magnetic field. The period of the MIS oscillations obeys condition $\Delta_{12}=(E_2-E_1)=k \cdot \hbar \omega_c$, where $\Delta_{12}$ is the subband energy separation, $\omega_c$ is the cyclotron frequency, and $k$ is the positive integer. At $T$=4.2 K the oscillations manifest themselves up to $k$=100. Strong temperature suppression of the magnetointersubband oscillations is observed. We show that the suppression is a result of electron-electron scattering. Our results are in good agreement with recent experiments, indicating that the sensitivity to electron-electron interaction is the fundamental property of magnetoresistance oscillations, originating from the second-order Dingle factor.