Interaction-controlled transport in a two-dimensional massless-massive Dirac system: Transition from degenerate to nondegenerate regimes

TL;DR

This study investigates how electron interactions influence transport in a 2D HgTe-based triple quantum well system, revealing a transition from degenerate to nondegenerate regimes and demonstrating the system's potential for exploring Dirac physics.

Contribution

The paper combines theoretical and experimental analysis of transport in a 2D Dirac system with mixed spectra, highlighting the transition between degenerate and nondegenerate regimes in a HgTe-based quantum well.

Findings

Resistance follows T^2 dependence in degenerate regime

Weak temperature dependence in non-degenerate regime

Experimental results agree with theoretical predictions

Abstract

The resistivity of two-dimensional (2D) metals generally exhibits insensitivity to electron-electron scattering. However, it's worth noting that Galilean invariance may not hold true in systems characterized by a spectrum containing multiple electronic branches or in scenarios involving electron-hole plasma. In the context of our study, we focus on 2D electrons confined within a triple quantum well (TQW) based on HgTe. This system displays a coexistence of energy bands featuring both linear and parabolic-like spectra at low energy and, therefore, lacks the Galilean invariance. This research employs a combined theoretical and experimental approach to investigate the transport properties of this two-component system across various regimes. By manipulating carrier density and temperature, we tune our system from a fully degenerate regime, where resistance follows a temperature-dependent behavior proportional to $T^2$, to a regime where both types of electrons adhere to Boltzmann statistics. In the non-degenerate regime, electron interactions lead to resistance that is weakly dependent on temperature. Notably, our experimental observations closely align with the theoretical predictions derived in this study. This work establishes the HgTe-based TQW as a promising platform for exploring different interaction dominant scenarios for the massless-massive Dirac system.9 pages, 8 figures