The magnetophonon modes of a three-dimensional Wigner crystal in a magnetic field

Abstract

The author calculates the transverse phonon spectrum of a three-dimensional Wigner crystal in a large magnetic field where the electrons occupy the lowest spin-polarized Landau level. The calculation differs from that for a conventional phonon spectrum because the lattice is stable only in the presence of the magnetic field. They give specific results for wavevectors parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field for the phonon spectrum of a Wigner crystal state in the narrow gap semiconductor HgCdTe. The temperature dependence of the electron lattice specific heat is also calculated and varies as T32/.