Contrasting Behavior of the 5/2 and 7/3 Fractional Quantum Hall Effect in a Tilted Field

Using a tilted-field geometry, the effect of an in-plane magnetic field on the even denominator nu = 5/2 fractional quantum Hall state is studied. The energy gap of the similar to 5/2 state is found to collapse linearly with the in-plane magnetic field above similar to 0: 5 T. In contrast, a strong enhancement of the gap is observed for the nu = 7/3 state. The radically distinct tilted-field behavior between the two states is discussed in terms of Zeeman and magneto-orbital coupling within the context of the proposed Moore-Read Pfaffian wave function for the 5 2 fractional quantum Hall effect.