Electromagnetic Response of a Pinned Wigner Crystal

TL;DR

This paper develops a microscopic quantum harmonic model to analyze the microwave absorption of a pinned two-dimensional Wigner crystal, revealing a sharp zero-temperature response consistent with experiments and emphasizing the role of long-range Coulomb interactions and interface disorder.

Contribution

It introduces a quantum harmonic approximation for the Wigner crystal's electromagnetic response, connecting theoretical predictions with experimental observations and identifying dominant pinning mechanisms.

Findings

Reproduces known collective mode density of states for pure systems.

Uncovers a delta-function response at zero temperature in disordered systems.

Suggests interface disorder as the primary pinning source.

Abstract

A microscopic model for analyzing the microwave absorption properties of a pinned, two-dimensional Wigner crystal in a strong perpendicular magnetic field is developed. The method focuses on excitations within the lowest Landau level, and corresponds to a quantum version of the harmonic approximation. For pure systems (no disorder), the method reproduces known results for the collective mode density of states of this system, and clearly identifies the origin of previously unexplained structure in this quantity. The application of the method to a simple diagonal disorder model uncovers a surprising result: a sharp (delta-function) response at zero temperature that is consistent with recent experiments. A simple spin lattice model is developed that reproduces the results of the quantum harmonic approximation, and shows that the sharp response is possible because the size scale $L_c$ of patches moving together in the lowest frequency collective mode is extremely large compared to the sample size for physically relevant parameters. This result is found to be a direct repercussion of the long-range nature of the Coulomb interaction. Finally, the model is used to analyze different disorder potentials that may pin the Wigner crystal, and it is argued that interface disorder is likely to represent the dominant pinning source for the system. A simple model of the interface is shown to reproduce some of the experimental trends for the magnetic field dependence of the pinning resonance.