Abstract
The low temperature magnetoresistance of a high mobility two-dimensional electron gas is dominated by Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations, reflecting the discrete nature of the electron energy spectrum. When a weak one- or two-dimensional periodic potential is superimposed on the two-dimensional electron gas a novel type of oscillations occurs which reflects the commensurability of the relevant lengths in these systems — the cyclotron orbit diameter at the Fermi energy and the period a of the periodic potential. In addition the electron mean free path l e also plays a role since the effect is observable only in mesoscopic systems where l e is significantly longer than the period a of the potential. The essential aspects of these novel commensurability oscillations are discussed here in detail, starting from the discussion of same basic magnetotransport properties in an unmodulated two-dimensional electron gas (2-DEG).
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