No Arabic abstract
A study of the conductance noise in a two-dimensional electron system (2DES) in Si at low temperatures (T) reveals the onset of large, non-Gaussian noise after cooling from an equilibrium state at a high T with a fixed carrier density n_s. This behavior, which signifies the falling out of equilibrium of the 2DES as T->0, is observed for n_s<n_g (n_g - glass transition density). A protocol where density is changed by a small value Delta n_s at low T produces the same results for the noise power spectra. However, a detailed analysis of the non-Gaussian probability density functions (PDFs) of the fluctuations reveals that Delta n_s has a qualitatively different and more dramatic effect than Delta T, suggesting that Delta n_s induces strong changes in the free energy landscape of the system as a result of Coulomb interactions. The results from a third, waiting-time (t_w) protocol, where n_s is changed temporarily during t_w by a large amount, demonstrate that non-Gaussian PDFs exhibit history dependence and an evolution towards a Gaussian distribution as the system ages and slowly approaches equilibrium. By calculating the power spectra and higher-order statistics for the noise measured over a wide range of the applied voltage bias, it is established that the non-Gaussian noise is observed in the regime of Ohmic or linear response, i.e. that it is not caused by the applied bias.
The relaxations of conductivity have been studied in a strongly disordered two-dimensional (2D) electron system in Si after excitation far from equilibrium by a rapid change of carrier density n_s at low temperatures T. The dramatic and precise dependence of the relaxations on n_s and T strongly suggests (a) the transition to a glassy phase as T->0, and (b) the Coulomb interactions between 2D electrons play a dominant role in the observed out-of-equilibrium dynamics.
The time-dependent fluctuations of conductivity sigma have been studied in a two-dimensional electron system in low-mobility, small-size Si inversion layers. The noise power spectrum is ~1/f^{alpha} with alpha exhibiting a sharp jump at a certain electron density n_s=n_g. An enormous increase in the relative variance of sigma is observed as n_s is reduced below n_g, reflecting a dramatic slowing down of the electron dynamics. This is attributed to the freezing of the electron glass. The data strongly suggest that glassy dynamics persists in the metallic phase.
The relaxations of conductivity after a temporary change of carrier density n_s during the waiting time t_w have been studied in a strongly disordered two-dimensional electron system in Si. At low enough n_s < n_g (n_g - the glass transition density), the nonexponential relaxations exhibit aging and memory effects at low temperatures T. The aging properties change abruptly at the critical density for the metal-insulator transition n_c < n_g. The observed complex dynamics of the electronic transport is strikingly similar to that of other systems that are far from equilibrium.
Studies of low-frequency resistance noise show that the glassy freezing of the two-dimensional electron system (2DES) in Si in the vicinity of the metal-insulator transition (MIT) persists in parallel magnetic fields B of up to 9 T. At low B, both the glass transition density $n_g$ and $n_c$, the critical density for the MIT, increase with B such that the width of the metallic glass phase ($n_c<n_s<n_g$) increases with B. At higher B, where the 2DES is spin polarized, $n_c$ and $n_g$ no longer depend on B. Our results demonstrate that charge, as opposed to spin, degrees of freedom are responsible for glassy ordering of the 2DES near the MIT.
The temperature dependence of conductivity $sigma (T)$ of a two-dimensional electron system in silicon has been studied in parallel magnetic fields B. At B=0, the system displays a metal-insulator transition at a critical electron density $n_c(0)$, and $dsigma/dT >0$ in the metallic phase. At low fields ($Blesssim 2$ T), $n_c$ increases as $n_c(B) - n_c(0) propto B^{beta}$ ($betasim 1$), and the zero-temperature conductivity scales as $sigma (n_s,B,T=0)/sigma (n_s,0,0)=f(B^{beta}/delta_n)$ (where $delta_n=(n_s-n_c(0))/n_c(0)$, and $n_s$ is electron density) as expected for a quantum phase transition. The metallic phase persists in fields of up to 18 T, consistent with the saturation of $n_c$ at high fields.