Probing Electron Interactions in a Two-Dimensional System by Quantum Magneto-Oscillations

TL;DR

This study investigates electron interactions in a two-dimensional system through quantum magneto-oscillations, revealing differences in damping factors between spin subbands and comparing experimental results with interaction correction theory.

Contribution

It provides new insights into spin-dependent damping and oscillation skewness, and introduces an empirical model involving triplet scatterers to explain observed phenomena.

Findings

The product (m*T_D) is similar in both spin subbands at high spin polarization.

A measurable skewness in oscillation lineshape caused by damping differences between spin subbands.

The empirical model suggests triplet scatterers influence electron interactions at the interface.

Abstract

We have experimentally studied the renormalized effective mass m* and Dingle temperature T_D in two spin subbands with essentially different electron populations. Firstly, we found that the product (m*T_D) that determines damping of quantum oscillations, to the first approximation, is the same in the majority and minority subbands even at the spin polarization degree as high as 66\%. This result confirms the theoretical predictions that the interaction takes place at high energies ~ E_F rather than within a narrow strip of energies E_F\pm k_BT. Secondly, to the next approximation, we revealed a difference in the damping factor of the two spin subbands, which causes skewness of the oscillation lineshape. In the absence of the in-plane magnetic field, the damping factor (m*T_D) is systematically smaller in the spin-majority subband. The difference, quantified with the skew factor \gamma = (T_{D\downarrow}-T_{D\uparrow})/2T_{D0} can be as large as 20%. The skew factor tends to decrease as B_\parallel or temperature grow, or perpendicular field decreases; for low electron densities and high in-plane fields the skew factor even changes sign. Finally, we compared the temperature and magnetic field dependencies of the magneto-oscillations amplitude with predictions of the interaction correction theory, and found, besides some qualitative similarities, several quantitative and qualitative differences. To explain qualitatively our results, we suggested an empirical model that assumes the existence of easily magnetized triplet scatterers on the Si/SiO_2 interface.