Search arXiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · cond-mat/9904052

Orbital Magnetism and Current Distribution of Two-Dimensional Electrons under Confining Potential

Y. Ishikawa·H. Fukuyama
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

The spatial distribution of electric current under magnetic field and the resultant orbital magnetism have been studied for two-dimensional electrons under a harmonic confining potential $V(\vecvar{r})=m ω_0^2 r^2/2$ in various regimes of temperature and magnetic field, and the microscopic conditions for the validity of Landau diamagnetism are clarified. Under a weak magnetic field $(ω_c\lsimω_0, ω_c$ being a cyclotron frequency) and at low temperature $(T\lsim\hbarω_0)$, where the orbital magnetic moment fluctuates as a function of the field, the currents are irregularly distributed paramagnetically or diamagnetically inside the bulk region. As the temperature is raised under such a weak field, however, the currents in the bulk region are immediately reduced and finally there only remains the diamagnetic current flowing along the edge. At the same time, the usual Landau diamagnetism results for the total magnetic moment. The origin of this dramatic temperature dependence is seen to be in the multiple reflection of electron waves by the boundary confining potential, which becomes important once the coherence length of electrons gets longer than the system length. Under a stronger field $(ω_c\gsimω_0)$, on the other hand, the currents in the bulk region cause de Haas-van Alphen effect at low temperature as $T\lsim\hbarω_c$. As the temperature gets higher $(T\gsim\hbarω_c)$ under such a strong field, the bulk currents are reduced and the Landau diamagnetism by the edge current is recovered.

Explore related subjects

cond-mat.mes-hall

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Y. Ishikawa, H. Fukuyama. 1999-04-03. Orbital Magnetism and Current Distribution of Two-Dimensional Electrons under Confining Potential. https://doi.org/10.1143/jpsj.68.2405

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Gapped out-of-phase plasmon modes in alternating-twist multilayer graphene

We theoretically investigate the plasmon modes of alternating-twist multilayer graphene. In multilayer systems, interlayer coupling gives rise to distinctive plasmon modes, but calculations in moiré systems remain challenging due to their complex tunneling structures. Using the Kac-Murdock-Szegő Toeplitz formalism, we derive that the in-phase mode exhibits the conventional $\sqrt{q}$ behavior, while the out-of-phase modes acquire plasmon gaps determined by specific interband transitions between Dirac cones with different velocities in the long-wavelength limit. We demonstrate that these out-of-phase modes remain undamped in the weak Coulomb-interaction limit when the twist angle exceeds a critical value ($θ\gtrsim 2.75^\circ$ for the alternating-twist trilayer case), regardless of the carrier density as long as the low-energy effective Dirac Hamiltonian remains valid. Furthermore, we consider the effect of a perpendicular electric field, and demonstrate how plasmon modes can be tuned by a gate voltage.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2026

Optical properties of hydrogenated graphene superlattices

We investigate with first principles theoretical methods optical response accounting for excitonic effects of quasi-one dimensional monolithic arrays of graphene nanostripes -- two-dimensional graphene superlattices, where quasi-metallic and dielectric regions alternate by selective hydrogenation of graphene. It is shown that chemical engineering of the graphene surface can lead to strong and well-isolated absorption peaks in the far-infrared and possibly even terahertz frequencies. The band gap scaling suggests no excitonic insulators.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2026

Long-lived Laughlin pairs in a depleted quantum Hall edge channel

On-demand sources and mesoscopic beam splitters allow individual ballistic electrons to collide in depleted quantum Hall edge channels, where their unscreened Coulomb interaction acts as a strong, controllable nonlinearity. Theory suggests a more striking possibility: in a strong magnetic field, the same repulsion can drive quantized relative circulation, allowing two electrons to propagate together as a positive-energy Laughlin pair. The relevance of such pairs to experiment depends on lifetimes in realistic guiding potentials and on whether the proposed collision pathway to pair formation survives full two-dimensional dynamics. We develop a microscopic theory of quasibound Laughlin pairs using the physical two-electron Hamiltonian. For a general local electric-field gradient, we determine the dissociation threshold, number of quasibound states, and decay rates. Complex scaling and analytic tunneling theory show that lifetimes grow exponentially with pair energy above threshold. Applied to reported GaAs parameters, the theory indicates that existing devices may already support the lowest spin-polarized pair, with a lifetime estimate roughly two orders of magnitude longer than typical propagation times. We simulate a collision with the full finite-field Hamiltonian, providing both a framework for nonlinear two-electron quantum dynamics and evidence for Laughlin-pair formation in a representative two-electron collision. We use Husimi distributions and their zeros to visualize both quasibound resonances and transient collision states in phase space. These results place the preparation, propagation, and detection of repulsively paired electrons within reach of existing single-electron circuit technology. They identify kinematic stabilization under constrained one-dimensional propagation as a pairing mechanism that may extend to anyonic quantum Hall edge excitations.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗