Analysis of time behavior in the breakdown of the integral quantum Hall effect.

Abstract

The breakdown of the integral quantum Hall effect at high current is studied in wide high-quality GaAs/${\mathrm{Al}}_{\mathit{x}}$${\mathrm{Ga}}_{1\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathit{x}}$As heterostructures, on the i=2 and i=4 Hall plateaus. The striking features of the phenomenon are pronounced steps in longitudinal resistance with rich time-dependent structures, which are analyzed with techniques normally applied to the study of chaotic behavior in dynamical systems. A number of characteristic parameters of the signal are obtained, showing that the underlying dynamics may be of a chaotic kind.