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Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical

Metal–insulator transition in 2D as a quantum phase transition

D. J. W. Geldart, D. Neilson

Published May 8, 2009• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We discuss the metal–insulator transition phenomenon in two dimensions in terms of a quantum critical point that controls a range of the low temperature insulator region as well as the usual quantum critical sector. We show that this extended range of criticality permits a determination of both the dynamical critical exponent z and the correlation length critical exponent ν from published data from a single experiment in the insulator critical region. The resulting value of the product zν is consistent with the temperature dependence of the resistance in the quantum critical sector. This provides strong quantitative evidence for the presence of a quantum critical point.

DOI
10.1088/1751-8113/42/21/214011

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We discuss the metal–insulator transition phenomenon in two dimensions in terms of a quantum critical point that controls a range of the low temperature insulator region as well as the usual quantum critical sector. We show that this extended range of criticality permits a determination of both the dynamical critical exponent z and the correlation length critical exponent ν from published data from a single experiment in the insulator critical region. The resulting value of the product zν is consistent with the temperature dependence of the resistance in the quantum critical sector. This provides strong quantitative evidence for the presence of a quantum critical point.
We show that the quantum critical point associated with the metal-insulator transition phenomenon in two dimensions controls an extended critical region encompassing not only the usual quantum critical sector but also a range of the low-temperature insulator region. The extended range of criticality permits a unified analysis of data from the insulating region and quantum critical sector, allowing us to determine both the dynamical critical exponent zzz and the correlation length critical exponent $\ensuremath{\nu}$ from published data from a single experiment in the insulator critical region. We show that the critical exponents determined from the insulator sector consistently describe the temperature dependence of the resistance data from the same experiment in the quantum critical sector. This provides evidence for the presence of a quantum critical point in these systems.
The quantum phase transition observed experimentally in two-dimensional (2D) electron systems has been a subject of theoretical and experimental studies for almost 30 years. We suggest Gaussian approximation to the mean-field theory of the second-order phase transition to explain the experimental data. Our approach explains self-consistently the universal value of the critical exponent 3/2 (found after scaling measured resistivities on both sides of the transition as a function of temperature) as the result of the divergence of the correlation length when the electron density approaches the critical value. We also provide numerical evidence for the stretched exponential temperature dependence of the metallic phase's resistivities in a wide range of temperatures and show that it leads to correct qualitative results. Finally, we interpret the phase diagram on the density-temperature plane exhibiting the quantum critical point, quantum critical trajectory and two crossover lines. Our research presents a theoretical description of the seminal experimental results.
We study the filling-controlled metal-insulator transition in the two-dimensional Hubbard model near half-filling with the use of zero temperature quantum Monte Carlo methods. In the metallic phase, the compressibility behaves as κ∝∣μ−μc∣−0.58±0.08κ\propto |μ- μ_c|^{-0.58\pm0.08}κ∝∣μ−μc​∣−0.58±0.08 where μcμ_cμc​ is the critical chemical potential. In the insulating phase, the localization length follows ξl∝∣μ−μc∣−νlξ_l \propto |μ- μ_c|^{-ν_l}ξl​∝∣μ−μc​∣−νl​ with νl=0.26±0.05ν_l = 0.26 \pm 0.05νl​=0.26±0.05. Under the assumption of hyperscaling, the compressibility data leads to a correlation length exponent νκ=0.21±0.04ν_κ= 0.21 \pm 0.04νκ​=0.21±0.04. Our results show that the exponents νκν_κνκ​ and νlν_lνl​ agree within statistical uncertainty. This confirms the assumption of hyperscaling with correlation length exponent ν=1/4ν= 1/4ν=1/4 and dynamical exponent z=4z = 4z=4. In contrast the metal-insulator transition in the generic band insulators in all dimensions as well as in the one-dimensional Hubbard model satisfy the hyperscaling assumption with exponents ν=1/2ν= 1/2ν=1/2 and z=2z = 2z=2.
The interpretation of the metal-insulator transition phenomena in disordered two-dimensional electron systems in terms of density-dependent scaling variables suggests the existence of a quantum critical point at some critical electron density. However a first principles scaling theory based on renormalization group (RG) methods predicts a strong temperature dependence of the dimensionless resistivity R(T)\mathcal{R}(T)R(T), even at small R(T)\mathcal{R}(T)R(T), that is not observed. The observed properties are in fact consistent with a weakly disordered Fermi liquid, and there are no indications of strong temperature dependence induced by scaling. While the RG expansion in a power series in R(T)\mathcal{R}(T)R(T) has only been evaluated to lowest order, this should be sufficient to describe experiments in the region of very small R\mathcal{R}R. A further apparent anomaly is a return from metal-like to insulating-like behavior for increasing density. We explain these fundamental discrepancies between the first principles theory and experiment. We find that the R⪡1\mathcal{R}⪡1R⪡1 data in the currently attainable temperature range are in a weak scaling regime described by the logarithmic approximation. We independently determine the density dependent prefactor of the logarithm using data for the spin susceptibility and effective mass. We find good agreement between theory and experiment for R(T)\mathcal{R}(T)R(T) in the diffusive regime. We point out that there are corrections to the leading logarithm approximation that should be observable at still lower temperatures.
Transitions between the Mott insulator and metals in clean systems are analyzed with the scaling theory in terms of quantum critical phenomena. In the case of generic transitions controlled by the filling, the scaling theory is established from analyses of the Drude weight and the compressibility based on hyperscaling. In the transition to the Mott insulator, a new universality class with the correlation length exponent ν<1/2 and the dynamical exponent z >2 is derived, which is in contrast to the transition to the band insulator characterized by ν=1/2 and z =2. The unusual exponents lead to various anomalous characters of metals near the Mott insulator such as strong suppression of the degeneracy temperature, and nonlinear dependence of the Drude weight on the doping concentration. Remarkable properties are also found in the specific heat, the compressibility and spin correlations. A mechanism of high temperature superconductivity is discussed in terms of the release from the suppressed coherence.
We consider a two-component scaling picture for the resistivity of two-dimensional (2D) weakly disordered interacting electron systems at low temperature with the aim of describing both the vicinity of the bifurcation and the low resistance metallic regime in the same framework. We contrast the essential features of one-component and two-component scaling theories. We discuss why the conventional lowest order renormalization group equations do not show a bifurcation in 2D, and a semiempirical extension is proposed which does lead to bifurcation. Parameters, including the product $z\ensuremath{\nu},$ are determined by least squares fitting to experimental data. An excellent description is obtained for the temperature and density dependence of the resistance of silicon close to the separatrix. Implications of this two-component scaling picture for a quantum critical point are discussed.