Suppression of compressible edge channels and spatial spin polarization in the integer quantum Hall regime

TL;DR

This study uses density functional theory to analyze how exchange interactions suppress spin-resolved compressible edge channels in quantum wires under magnetic fields, revealing the conditions for their formation and spatial separation.

Contribution

It demonstrates that exchange interactions can completely suppress compressible strips in quantum wires and details their formation and separation influenced by magnetic field and electron density.

Findings

Exchange interaction suppresses compressible strips at realistic parameters.

Width of spin-resolved strips equals Hartree approximation for spinless electrons.

Electron density affects the suppression and formation of compressible strips.

Abstract

We perform systematic numerical studies of the structure of spin-resolved compressible strips in split-gate quantum wires taking into account the exchange and correlation interactions within the density functional theory in the local spin-density approximation. We find that for realistic parameters of the wire the exchange interaction can completely suppress the formation of the compressible strips. As the depletion length or magnetic field are increased, the compressible strips starts to form first for the spin-down and then for spin-up edge channels. We demonstrate that the widths of these strips plus the spatial separation between them caused by the exchange interaction are equal to the width of the compressible strip calculated in the Hartree approximation for spinless electrons. We also discuss the effect of electron density on the suppression of the compressible strips in quantum wires.