New class of magnetoresistance oscillations: interaction of a two-dimensional electron gas with leaky interface phonons

• Published in: Physical review letters Vol. 86; no. 16; p. 3614
• Main Authors: Zudov, M A, Ponomarev, I V, Efros, A L, Du, R R, Simmons, J A, Reno, J L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 16.04.2001
• ISSN: 0031-9007
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.3614

We report on a new class of magnetoresistance oscillations observed in a high-mobility two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in GaAs-Al(x)Ga(1--x)As heterostructures. Appearing in a weak magnetic field ( B < 0.3 T) and only in a narrow temperature range ( 2 K < T < 9 K), these oscillations are periodic in 1/B with a frequency proportional to the electron Fermi wave vector, k(F). We interpret the effect as a magnetophonon resonance of the 2DEG with leaky interface-acoustic phonon modes carrying a wave vector q = 2k(F). Calculations show a few branches of such modes existing on the GaAs-Al(x)Ga(1--)xAs interface, and their velocities are in quantitative agreement with the observation.