Evolution of the bilayer nu = 1 quantum Hall state under charge imbalance

TL;DR

This study investigates how the bilayer nu=1 quantum Hall state changes with charge imbalance, revealing that incoherent systems can develop coherence under imbalance, aligning with recent theories.

Contribution

It demonstrates that charge imbalance can induce spontaneous interlayer coherence in bilayer quantum Hall systems, expanding understanding of their phase behavior.

Findings

Incoherent bilayer systems can become coherent with imbalance.

Charge transfer affects the stability of the nu=1 quantum Hall state.

Experimental results agree with recent theoretical predictions.

Abstract

We use high-mobility bilayer hole systems with negligible tunneling to examine how the bilayer nu = 1 quantum Hall state evolves as charge is transferred from one layer to the other at constant total density. We map bilayer nu = 1 state stability versus imbalance for five total densities spanning the range from strongly interlayer coherent to incoherent. We observe competition between single-layer correlations and interlayer coherence. Most significantly, we find that bilayer systems that are incoherent at balance can develop spontaneous interlayer coherence with imbalance, in agreement with recent theoretical predictions.