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.
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