Abstract
We investigate both, experimentally and theoretically, commensurability oscillations in the low-field magnetoresistance of lateral superlattices with broken inversion symmetry. We find that pronounced minima develop in the resistivity when the flat band conditions of several relevant harmonics of the periodic potential nearly coincide.
Highlights
A unidirectional periodic potential V(x), superimposed on a high-mobility two-dimensional electron system (2DES) constitutes a lateral superlattice (LSL), intensively investigated over the last decades
Within a fully classical picture the drift velocity resulting from classical E × B drift drops to zero if the average electric field probed by an electron on a cyclotron orbit vanishes [6]. It was shown, both experimentally [7,8,9] and theoretically [10,11,12,13] that LSLs with broken inversion symmetry can behave as a ratchet when illuminated by light [8,9,10,11,12,13] or when the potential barriers of the superlattice are driven by an ac potential [7]
We note that a superlattice potential with broken inversion symmetry is only one example of a complex periodic potential composed of several different harmonics of different amplitude
Summary
Commensurability oscillations in a lateral superlattice with broken inversion symmetry. M Staab, M Matuschek, P Pereyra, M Utz, D Schuh, D Bougeard, R R Gerhardts and D Weiss. Experimentally and theoretically, commensurability oscillations in the low-field licence. Magnetoresistance of lateral superlattices with broken inversion symmetry. Author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI
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