We present an enhanced diffusion of nuclear spin polarization in fractional quantum Hall domain phases at $ u = 2/3$. Resistively-detected NMR mediated by electrically driven domain-wall motion is used as a probe of local nuclear polarization, manifesting pumping-dependent signal saturation behavior. This reveals that a relatively homogeneous polarization profile spreads even to places distant from pinning centers of the domain walls. We attribute this to the fact that the pumped nuclear polarization near the domain walls rapidly diffuses into the domains where nuclei experience Knight fields on comparable levels. The anomalous enhancement of nuclear diffusion may be interpreted in terms of indirect hyperfine-mediated interaction between nuclear spins in the domains.
We present fractional quantum Hall domain walls confined in a gate-defined wire structure. Our experiments utilize spatial oscillation of domain walls driven by radio frequency electric fields to cause nuclear magnetic resonance. The resulting spectra are discussed in terms of both large quadrupole fields created around the wire and hyperfine fields associated with the oscillating domain walls. This provides the experimental fact that the domain walls survive near the confined geometry despite of potential deformation, by which a localized magnetic resonance is allowed in electrical means.
Symmetry breaking in a quantum system often leads to complex emergent behavior. In bilayer graphene (BLG), an electric field applied perpendicular to the basal plane breaks the inversion symmetry of the lattice, opening a band gap at the charge neutrality point. In a quantizing magnetic field electron interactions can cause spontaneous symmetry breaking within the spin and valley degrees of freedom, resulting in quantum Hall states (QHS) with complex order. Here we report fractional quantum Hall states (FQHS) in bilayer graphene which show phase transitions that can be tuned by a transverse electric field. This result provides a model platform to study the role of symmetry breaking in emergent states with distinct topological order.
Protected edge modes are the cornerstone of topological states of matter. The simplest example is provided by the integer quantum Hall state at Landau level filling unity, which should feature a single chiral mode carrying electronic excitations. In the presence of a smooth confining potential it was hitherto believed that this picture may only be partially modified by the appearance of additional counterpropagating integer-charge modes. Here, we demonstrate the breakdown of this paradigm: The system favors the formation of edge modes supporting fractional excitations. This accounts for previous observations, and leads to additional predictions amenable to experimental tests.
We show that correlated two-particle backscattering can induce fractional charge oscillations in a quantum dot built at the edge of a two-dimensional topological insulator by means of magnetic barriers. The result nicely complements recent works where the fractional oscillations were obtained employing of semiclassical treatments. Moreover, since by rotating the magnetization of the barriers a fractional charge can be trapped in the dot via the Jackiw-Rebbi mechanism, the system we analyze offers the opportunity to study the interplay between this noninteracting charge fractionalization and the fractionalization due to two-particle backscattering. In this context, we demonstrate that the number of fractional oscillations of the charge density depends on the magnetization angle. Finally, we address the renormalization induced by two-particle backscattering on the spin density, which is characterized by a dominant oscillation, sensitive to the Jackiw-Rebbi charge, with a wavelength twice as large as the charge density oscillations.
We examine effects of inversion asymmetry of a GaAs/Al0.3Ga0.7As quantum well (QW) on electron-nuclear spin coupling in the fractional quantum Hall (QH) regime. Increasing the QW potential asymmetry at a fixed Landau-level filling factor (nu) with gate voltages suppresses the current-induced nuclear spin polarization in the nu = 2/3 Ising QH ferromagnet, while it significantly enhances the nuclear spin relaxation at general nu. These findings suggest that mixing of different spin states due to the Rashba spin-orbit interaction strongly affects the electron-nuclear spin coupling.