Moving crystal phases of a quantum Wigner solid in an ultra-high-quality 2D electron system

Abstract

In low-disorder, two-dimensional electron systems (2DESs), the fractional quantum Hall states at very small Landau level fillings ($ν$) terminate in a Wigner solid (WS) phase, where electrons arrange themselves in a periodic array. The WS is typically pinned by the residual disorder sites and manifests an insulating behavior, with non-linear current-voltage (\textit{I-V}) and noise characteristics. We report here, measurements on an ultra-low-disorder, dilute 2DES, confined to a GaAs quantum well. In the $ν< 1/5$ range, superimposed on a highly-insulating longitudinal resistance, the 2DES exhibits a developing fractional quantum Hall state at $ν=1/7$, attesting to its exceptional high quality, and dominance of electron-electron interaction in the low filling regime. In the nearby insulating phases, we observe remarkable non-linear \textit{I-V} and noise characteristics as a function of increasing current, with current thresholds delineating three distinct phases of the WS: a pinned phase (P1) with very small noise, a second phase (P2) in which $dV/dI$ fluctuates between positive and negative values and is accompanied by very high noise, and a third phase (P3) where $dV/dI$ is nearly constant and small, and noise is about an order of magnitude lower than in P2. In the depinned (P2 and P3) phases, the noise spectrum also reveals well-defined peaks at frequencies that vary linearly with the applied current, suggestive of washboard frequencies. We discuss the data in light of a recent theory that proposes different dynamic phases for a driven WS.