Negative longitudinal magnetoresistance in GaAs quantum wells

TL;DR

This study reports the observation of negative longitudinal magnetoresistance in GaAs quantum wells, a phenomenon previously linked to topological materials, now attributed to microscopic disorder in a non-topological system.

Contribution

It demonstrates NLMRs in GaAs quantum wells and attributes these effects to microscopic disorder, expanding understanding beyond topological origins.

Findings

NLMRs observed up to 9 Tesla at high temperatures

Weak NLMRs at low temperatures near the transition

Microscopic disorder explains NLMR features

Abstract

Negative longitudinal magnetoresistances (NLMRs) have been recently observed in a variety of topological materials and often considered to be associated with Weyl fermions that have a defined chirality. Here we report NLMRs in non-Weyl GaAs quantum wells. In the absence of a magnetic field the quantum wells show a transition from semiconducting-like to metallic behaviour with decreasing temperature. We observed pronounced NLMRs up to 9 Tesla at temperatures above the transition and weak NLMRs in low magnetic fields at temperatures close to the transition and below 5 K. The observed NLMRs show various types of magnetic field behaviour resembling those reported in topological materials. We attribute them to microscopic disorder and use a phenomenological three-resistor model to account for their various features. Our results showcase a new contribution of microscopic disorder in the occurrence of novel phenomena. They may stimulate further work on tuning electronic properties via disorder/defect nano-engineering.