Range-Dependent Disorder Effects on the Plateau-Widths Calculated within the Screening Theory of the Iqhe

TL;DR

This paper reviews the screening theory of the integer quantum Hall effect, highlighting how long-range and short-range disorder influence the width of quantum Hall plateaus without relying on localization assumptions.

Contribution

It clarifies the role of disorder types in plateau broadening within the screening theory, extending its applicability to wider Hall bars.

Findings

Long-range potential fluctuations broaden the plateaus.

Short-range disorder narrows the plateaus.

The theory explains experimental reproducibility without localization.

Abstract

We summarize the screening theory of the integer quantized Hall effect (IQHE) and emphasize its two key mechanisms: first, the existence, in certain magnetic field intervals, of incompressible strips, with integer values of the local filling factor and quantized values of longitudinal and Hall resistivity, and second, the confinement of an imposed dissipative current to these strips, leading to the quantization of the global resistances. We demonstrate that, without any localization assumption, this theory explains the enormous experimental reproducibility of the quantized resistance values, as well as experimental results on the potential distribution in narrow Hall bars. We further demonstrate that inclusion of long-range potential fluctuations allows to apply the theory to wider Hall bars, and can lead to a broadening of the quantum Hall plateaus, whereas short-range disorder tends to narrow the plateaus.