Origin of the hysteresis in bilayer two-dimensional systems in the quantum Hall regime

Abstract

The hysteresis observed in the magnetoresistance of bilayer two-dimensional (2D) systems in the quantum Hall regime is generally attributed to the long-time constant for charge transfer between the 2D systems due to the very low conductivity of the quantum Hall bulk states. We report electrometry measurements of a bilayer 2D system that demonstrate that the hysteresis is instead due to nonequilibrium induced current. This finding is consistent with magnetometry and electrometry measurements of single 2D systems and has important ramifications for understanding hysteresis in bilayer 2D systems.