Possible nematic to smectic phase transition in a two-dimensional electron gas at half-filling

Qian, Q.; Nakamura, J.; Fallahi, S.; Gardner, G. C.; Manfra, M. J.

doi:10.1038/s41467-017-01810-y

Possible nematic to smectic phase transition in a two-dimensional electron gas at half-filling

Journal Article · Wed Nov 15 23:00:00 EST 2017 · Nature Communications

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01810-y· OSTI ID:1526282

Qian, Q. ^[1]; Nakamura, J. ^[2]; Fallahi, S. ^[2]; Gardner, G. C. ^[2]; Manfra, M. J. ^[2]

Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); None
Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)

Liquid crystalline phases of matter permeate nature and technology, with instances ranging from cell membranes to liquid-crystal displays. Remarkably, electronic liquid-crystal phases can exist in two-dimensional electron systems (2DES) at half Landau-level filling in the quantum Hall regime. Theory has predicted the existence of a liquid-crystal smectic phase that breaks both rotational and translational symmetries. However, previous experiments in 2DES are most consistent with an anisotropic nematic phase breaking only rotational symmetry. Here we report three transport phenomena at half-filling in ultra-low disorder 2DES: a non-monotonic temperature dependence of the sample resistance, dramatic onset of large time-dependent resistance fluctuations, and a sharp feature in the differential resistance suggestive of depinning. These data imply that a sequence of symmetry-breaking phase transitions occurs as temperature is lowered: first a transition from an isotropic liquid to a nematic phase and finally to a liquid-crystal smectic phase.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0006671

OSTI ID:: 1526282

Journal Information:: Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 8; ISSN 2041-1723

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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