Magnetic field driven redistribution between extended and localized electronic states in high-mobility Si MOSFETs at low temperatures

Abstract

In the study of oscillatory electron transport in high-mobility Si MOSFETs at low temperatures we observed two correlated effects in weak in-plane magnetic fields: a steep decrease of the renormalized magnetic susceptibility $\chi^*(H)$ and an increase of the concentration of mobile carriers $n(H)$. We suggest a phenomenological model of the magnetic field driven redistribution between the extended and localized electronic states that qualitatively explains both effects. We argue that the redistribution is mainly caused by magnetization of the large-spin localized states with energies close to the Fermi energy $E_F$, coexisting with the majority Fermi liquid state. Our findings also resolve a long-standing disagreement between the experimental data on $\chi^*$ obtained in weak ($H \sim k_BT/\mu_B$) and strong ($H \sim E_F/g\mu_B$) magnetic fields.