Density dependence of the excitation gaps in an undoped Si/SiGe double-quantum-well heterostructure

We report low-temperature magneto-transport measurements of an undoped Si/SiGe asymmetric double quantum well heterostructure. The density in both layers is tuned independently utilizing top and bottom gates, allowing the investigation of quantum wells at both imbalanced and matched densities. Integer quantum Hall states at total filling factor nu T = 1 and nu T = 2 are observed in both density regimes, and the evolution of their excitation gaps is reported as a function of the density. The nu T = 1 gap evolution departs from the behavior generally observed for valley splitting in the single layer regime. Furthermore, by comparing the nu T = 2 gap to the single particle tunneling energy, & UDelta; SAS, obtained from Schrodinger-Poisson (SP) simulations, evidence for the onset of spontaneous interlayer coherence is observed for a relative filling fraction imbalance smaller than & SIM; 50 %.

Automated summary

In this study, low-temperature magneto-transport measurements of an undoped Si/SiGe asymmetric double quantum well heterostructure were reported. The investigation of quantum wells at different densities by independently tuning the density in both layers was conducted. Integer quantum Hall states were observed, and the evolution of their excitation gaps with density was reported, with evidence found for the onset of spontaneous interlayer coherence.