Spatial structure of an incompressible Quantum Hall strip

TL;DR

This paper investigates the spatial structure of an incompressible Quantum Hall strip, focusing on the effects of localized states and electron exchange, revealing nonmonotonic density profiles and increased strip width.

Contribution

It introduces a density functional approach to analyze the impact of localized states and exchange interactions on the Quantum Hall strip structure.

Findings

Localized states increase strip width

Exchange effects cause nonmonotonic density profiles

Formation of a 1D Wigner crystal at the edge

Abstract

The incompressible Quantum Hall strip is sensitive to charging of localized states in the cyclotron gap. We study the effect of localized states by a density functional approach and find electron density and the strip width as a function of the density of states in the gap. Another important effect is electron exchange. By using a model density functional which accounts for negative compressibility of the QH state, we find electron density around the strip. At large exchange, the density profile becomes nonmonotonic, indicating formation of a 1D Wigner crystal at the strip edge. Both effects, localized states and exchange, lead to a substantial increase of the strip width.