Possible nematic to smectic phase transition in a two-dimensional electron gas at half-filling

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 1536 - 6
• Main Authors: Qian, Q., Nakamura, J., Fallahi, S., Gardner, G. C., Manfra, M. J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 16-11-2017; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 639/766/119/2794; 639/766/119/995; Broken symmetry; Cell membranes; Electron gas; ENGINEERING; Humanities and Social Sciences; Liquid crystals; Membranes; multidisciplinary; Nematic; Phase transitions; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Temperature dependence; Transport phenomena
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01810-y

Liquid crystalline phases of matter permeate nature and technology, with examples ranging from cell membranes to liquid-crystal displays. Remarkably, electronic liquid-crystal phases can exist in two-dimensional electron systems (2DES) at half Landau-level filling in the quantum Hall regime. Theory has predicted the existence of a liquid-crystal smectic phase that breaks both rotational and translational symmetries. However, previous experiments in 2DES are most consistent with an anisotropic nematic phase breaking only rotational symmetry. Here we report three transport phenomena at half-filling in ultra-low disorder 2DES: a non-monotonic temperature dependence of the sample resistance, dramatic onset of large time-dependent resistance fluctuations, and a sharp feature in the differential resistance suggestive of depinning. These data suggest that a sequence of symmetry-breaking phase transitions occurs as temperature is lowered: first a transition from an isotropic liquid to a nematic phase and finally to a liquid-crystal smectic phase.
In the quantum Hall regime, strong interactions lead to the formation of unconventional spatially ordered electronic states. Qian et al. present evidence for a progressive sequence of transitions from isotropic through nematic to smectic phases in half-filled quantum Hall states.