Electric field scaling at a B=0 metal-insulator transition in two dimensions

TL;DR

This study investigates the electric field scaling behavior at the zero magnetic field metal-insulator transition in a two-dimensional silicon electron system, providing evidence for a true phase transition and extracting critical exponents.

Contribution

It demonstrates electric field scaling across the transition and determines critical exponents, offering new insights into the nature of the 2D metal-insulator transition.

Findings

Scaling behavior observed in resistivity as a function of electric field and density

Critical exponents =1.5 and z=0.8 determined from data

Results support the existence of a true metal-insulator transition in 2D systems

Abstract

The non-linear (electric field-dependent) resistivity of the 2D electron system in silicon exhibits scaling as a function of electric field and electron density in both the metallic and insulating phases, providing further evidence for a true metal-insulator transition in this 2D system at B=0. Comparison with the temperature scaling yields separate determinations of the correlation length exponent, \nu=1.5, and the dynamical exponent, z=0.8, close to the theoretical value z=1.