Evidence of a Macroscopic-Flux Phase in an Asymmetric Quantum Well in a Tilted Quantizing Magnetic Field

TL;DR

This paper provides experimental evidence of a macroscopic flux phase in an asymmetric quantum well under a tilted magnetic field, revealing spatially separated electron fluxes with one-dimensional characteristics.

Contribution

It demonstrates the existence of a macroscopic flux phase caused by Landau level degeneracy lifting in asymmetric quantum wells with tilted magnetic fields.

Findings

Electron velocity correlates with cyclotron orbit center positions.

Spatially separated electron fluxes flow in opposite directions.

Fluxes exhibit one-dimensional behavior.

Abstract

We demonstrate experimentally that in an asymmetric quantum well in presence of quantizing magnetic field tilted in XZ plane, confining potential V(z) lifts Landau level degeneracy related to position of the centers of electron cyclotron orbits along X axis. This results in arising of specific bands in which directed velocity of electrons along Y axis may be nonzero. We directly demonstrate that the electrons' velocity is in a one-to-one correspondence with the position of the centers of their cyclotron orbits that means spatially separated macroscopic electron fluxes should flow in opposite directions along Y axis even in the fully occupied bands. One-dimensional character of these fluxes is also demonstrated experimentally.