Proposal on Tunneling Effect between Quantum Hall States ()
ABSTRACT
In the integer and fractional quantum Hall effects, the electric
current flows through a thin layer under the strong magnetic field. The
diagonal resistance becomes very small at integer and specific fractional
filling factors where the electron scatterings are very few. Accordingly the
coherent length is large and therefore a tunneling effect of electrons may be
observed. We consider a new type of a quantum Hall device which has a narrow
potential barrier in the thin layer. Then the electrons flow with tunneling
effect through the potential barrier. When the oscillating magnetic field is applied
in addition to the constant field, the voltage steps may appear in the curve of
voltage V versus electric current I. If the voltage steps are
found in the experiment, it is confirmed that the 2D electron system yields the
same phenomenon as that of the ac-Josephson effect in a superconducting system.
Furthermore the step V is related to the transfer charge Q as V = (hf)/Q where f is the frequency of the
oscillating field and h is the Planck
constant. Then the detection of the step V determines the transfer charge Q. The
ratio Q/e (e is the
elementary charge) clarifies the origin of the transfer charge. Many conditions
are required for us to observe the tunneling phenomenon. The conditions are
examined in details in this article.
Share and Cite:
S. Sasaki, "Proposal on Tunneling Effect between Quantum Hall States,"
Journal of Modern Physics, Vol. 4 No. 9A, 2013, pp. 1-7. doi:
10.4236/jmp.2013.49A001.