The Nature of the Hall Insulator

TL;DR

This paper experimentally investigates the insulating phase at the end of the quantum Hall series, revealing a direct relation between resistivities and quantized Hall resistivity, suggesting a link between conduction mechanisms.

Contribution

It provides new experimental evidence of quantized Hall resistivity and a simple relation between resistivities in the insulating and quantum Hall phases.

Findings

Resistivity in the insulating phase relates directly to the quantum Hall phase.

Hall resistivity can be quantized in the insulating phase.

Conduction mechanisms in insulator and quantum Hall liquid are closely related.

Abstract

We have conducted an experimental study of the linear transport properties of the magnetic-field induced insulating phase which terminates the quantum Hall (QH) series in two dimensional electron systems. We found that a direct and simple relation exists between measurements of the longitudinal resistivity, $\rho_{xx}$, in this insulating phase and in the neighboring QH phase. In addition, we find that the Hall resistivity, $\rho_{xy}$, can be quantized in the insulating phase. Our results indicate that a close relation exists between the conduction mechanism in the insulator and in the QH liquid.