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arXiv:cond-mat/0202407 · Physical review. B, Condensed matter

Excitation gaps in fractional quantum Hall states: An exact diagonalization study

R. Morf, N. d’Ambrumenil, S. Das Sarma

Published Aug 9, 2002• 137 citations
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Abstract

We compute energy gaps for spin-polarized fractional quantum Hall states in the lowest Landau level (LL) at filling fractions $\ensuremath{\nu}=\frac{1}{3},$ $\frac{2}{5},$ $\frac{3}{7},$ and $\frac{4}{9}$ using exact diagonalization of systems with up to 16 particles and extrapolation to the infinite system-size limit. The gaps calculated for a pure Coulomb interaction and ignoring finite width effects, disorder and LL mixing agree well with the predictions of composite fermion theory provided the logarithmic corrections to the effective mass are included. This is in contrast with previous estimates, which, as we show, overestimated the gaps at $\ensuremath{\nu}=2/5$ and 3/7 by around 15%. We also study the reduction of the gaps as a result of the nonzero width of the two-dimensional (2D) layer. We show that these effects are accurately accounted for using either Gaussian or ``$z\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}$ Gaussian'' $(z\mathrm{G})$ trial wave functions, which we show are significantly better variational wave functions than the Fang-Howard wave function. The Gaussian and $z\mathrm{G}$ wave functions give Haldane pseudopotential parameters which agree with those of self-consistent local density approximation calculations to better than $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2%.$ For quantum well parameters typical of heterostructure samples, we find gap reductions of around 20%. The experimental gaps, after accounting heuristically for disorder, are still around 40% smaller than the computed gaps. However, for the case of tetracene layers in metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) devices we find that the measured activation gaps are close to those we compute. We discuss possible reasons why the difference between computed and measured activation gaps is larger in GaAs heterostructures than MIS devices. Finally, we present calculations using systems with up to 18 electrons of the gap at $\ensuremath{\nu}=\frac{5}{2}$ including width corrections.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.66.075408

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Exact diagonalization of a two-dimensional electron gas in a strong magnetic field in the disk geometry shows that there exists a filling-factor range in the second Landau level where the states significantly differ from those in the lowest Landau level. We show that the difference arises because the interaction between composite fermions is not negligible in higher Landau levels, as indicated by a substantial mixing between composite-fermion Landau-like levels, or $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ levels. We find that the exact ground state is well reproduced by composite-fermion theory with $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$-level mixing incorporated at the lowest level of approximation. Using the same variational approach in the spherical geometry we estimate the excitation gap at filling 1∕31∕31∕3 in the second Landau level (which corresponds to 7∕37∕37∕3 of experiment).
Variational Monte Carlo calculations of the quasielectron and quasihole excitation energies in the fractional quantum Hall effect have been carried out at filling fractions $\ensuremath{\nu}=1/3,$ 1/5, and 1/7. For the quasielectron both the trial wave function originally proposed by Laughlin and the composite-fermion wave function proposed by Jain have been used. We find that for long-range Coulomb interactions the results obtained using these two wave functions are essentially the same, though the energy gap obtained using the composite-fermion quasielectron is slightly smaller, and closer to extrapolated exact-diagonalization results.
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We compare quantum Hall systems at filling factors $\ensuremath{\nu}=2$ to $\ensuremath{\nu}=\frac{2}{3}$ and 25\frac{2}{5}52​, corresponding to the exact filling of two lowest electron or composite fermion (CF) Landau levels. The two fractional states are examples of CF liquids with spin dynamics. There is a close analogy between the ferromagnetic (spin polarization P=1P=1P=1) and paramagnetic (P=0)(P=0)(P=0) incompressible ground states that occur in all three systems in the limits of large and small Zeeman spin splitting. However, the excitation spectra are different. At $\ensuremath{\nu}=2$, we find spin domains at half-polarization (P=12)(P=\frac{1}{2})(P=21​), while antiferromagnetic order seems most favorable in the CF systems. The transition between P=0P=0P=0 and 1, as seen when, e.g., the magnetic field is tilted, is also studied by exact diagonalization in toroidal and spherical geometries. The essential role of an effective CF-CF interaction is discussed, and the experimentally observed incompressible half-polarized state is found in some models.