Hybrid lateral superlattices composed of a square array of antidots and a periodic one-dimensional magnetic modulation are prepared in $mathrm{Ga[Al]As}$ heterostructures. The two-dimensional electron gases exposed to these superlattices are characterized by magnetotransport experiments in vanishing average perpendicular magnetic fields. Despite the absence of closed orbits, the diagonal magnetoresistivity in the direction perpendicular to the magnetic modulation shows pronounced classical resonances. They are located at magnetic fields where snake trajectories exist which are quasi-commensurate with the antidot lattice. The diagonal magnetoresistivity in the direction of the magnetic modulation increases sharply above a threshold magnetic field and shows no fine structure. The experimental results are interpreted with the help of numerical simulations based on the semiclassical Kubo model.
We have observed commensurability oscillations (CO) in the Hall resistance $R_{yx}$ of a unidirectional lateral superlattice (ULSL). The CO, having small amplitudes ($sim$ 1 $Omega$) and being superposed on a roughly three-orders of magnitude larger background, are obtained by directly detecting the difference in $R_{yx}$ between the ULSL area and the adjacent unmodulated two-dimensional electron gas area, and then extracting the odd part with respect to the magnetic field. The CO thus obtained are compared with a theoretical calculation and turn out to have the amplitude much smaller than the theoretical prediction. The implication of the smaller-than-predicted CO in $R_{yx}$ on the thermoelectric power of ULSL is briefly discussed.
We report the experimental observation of commensurability oscillations (COs) in 1D graphene superlattices. The widely tunable periodic potential modulation in hBN encapsulated graphene is generated via the interplay of nanopatterned few layer graphene acting as a local bottom gate and a global Si back gate. The longitudinal magneto-resistance shows pronounced COs, when the sample is tuned into the unipolar transport regime. We observe up to six CO minima, providing evidence for a long mean free path despite the potential modulation. Comparison to existing theories shows that small angle scattering is dominant in hBN/graphene/hBN heterostructures. We observe robust COs persisting to temperature exceeding $T=150$ K. At high temperatures, we find deviations from the predicted $T$-dependence, which we ascribe to electron-electron scattering.
We report on the observation of the magnetic quantum ratchet effect in graphene with a lateral dual-grating top gate (DGG) superlattice. We show that the THz ratchet current exhibits sign-alternating magneto-oscillations due to the Shubnikov-de Haas effect. The amplitude of these oscillations is greatly enhanced as compared to the ratchet effect at zero magnetic field. The direction of the current is determined by the lateral asymmetry which can be controlled by variation of gate potentials in DGG. We also study the dependence of the ratchet current on the orientation of the terahertz electric field (for linear polarization) and on the radiation helicity (for circular polarization). Notably, in the latter case, switching from right- to left-circularly polarized radiation results in an inversion of the photocurrent direction. We demonstrate that most of our observations can be well fitted by the drift-diffusion approximation based on the Boltzmann kinetic equation with the Landau quantization fully encoded in the oscillations of the density of states.
We have measured magnetoresistance of hexagonal lateral superlattices. We observe three types of oscillations engendered by periodic potential modulation having hexagonal-lattice symmetry: amplitude modulation of the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations, commensurability oscillations, and the geometric resonances of open orbits generated by Bragg reflections. The latter two reveal the presence of two characteristic periodicities, sqrt{3} a / 2 and a / 2, inherent in a hexagonal lattice with the lattice constant a. The formation of the hexagonal-superlattice minibands manifested by the observation of open orbits marks the first step toward realizing massless Dirac fermions in semiconductor 2DEGs.
A poly(styrene-block-methylmethacrylate) diblock copolymer in the hexagonal cylindrical phase has been used as a mask for preparing a periodic gate on top of a Ga[Al]As-heterostructure. A superlattice period of 43 nm could be imposed onto the two-dimensional electron gas. Transport measurements show a characteristic positive magnetoresistance around zero magnetic field which we interpret as a signature of electron motion guided by the superlattice potential.