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Two-dimensional semimetal-insulator transition in HgTe-based quantum wells induced by a longitudinal magnetic field

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Abstract

A metal-insulator transition in a two-dimensional semimetal based on HgTe quantum wells is discovered. The transition is induced by a magnetic field applied parallel to the plane of the quantum well. The threshold behavior of the activation energy as a function of the magnetic-field strength and an abrupt reduction of the Hall resistance at the onset of the transition suggest that the observed effect originates from the formation of an excitonic insulator.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Semiconductor Physics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

    E. B. Olshanetsky, Z. D. Kvon, N. N. Mikhailov & S. A. Dvoretsky

  2. Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

    Z. D. Kvon

  3. Instituto de Fisica, Universidade de Sao Paulo, 05315-970, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil

    G. M. Gusev

Authors
  1. E. B. Olshanetsky
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  2. Z. D. Kvon
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  3. G. M. Gusev
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  4. N. N. Mikhailov
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  5. S. A. Dvoretsky
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Correspondence to E. B. Olshanetsky.

Additional information

Original Russian Text © E.B. Olshanetsky, Z.D. Kvon, G.M. Gusev, N.N. Mikhailov, S.A. Dvoretsky, 2012, published in Pis’ma v Zhurnal Eksperimental’noi i Teoreticheskoi Fiziki, 2012, Vol. 96, No. 4, pp. 268–271.

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Olshanetsky, E.B., Kvon, Z.D., Gusev, G.M. et al. Two-dimensional semimetal-insulator transition in HgTe-based quantum wells induced by a longitudinal magnetic field. Jetp Lett. 96, 251–254 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0021364012160072

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0021364012160072

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