# Electrostatics of Inhomogeneous Quantum Hall Liquid

## I Introduction

During the last few years the new methods have been developed for direct imaging of the charge and current of the quantum Hall liquid. They are especially effective if the distribution changes along the sample either because of the sweeping magnetic field or due to an intentionally created gradient of electron density. These methods can be useful for studying a spatial modulation of the charge density in the electron liquid, which appears due to electron-electron interaction. Another very robust and very simple reason for inhomogeneity of electron density is fluctuations of charged donors in the doped region of semiconductor. These fluctuations cause the changes of electron density which are strongly dependent on the screening. On the other hand the screening decreases drastically each time when the chemical potential passes through an integer or a fractional gap. Thus, both the screening and the electron density itself strongly depend on the magnetic field. To study comparatively weak effects of the “internal” modulation of the liquid one should first have a possibility to discriminate the “external” effects. Moreover, the screening properties of the quantum Hall liquid is an interesting problem and imaging of the fluctuations induced by donors may provide the new opportunities for quantitative understanding of this problem.

The theoretical study of the screening properties have been conducted by many people. In the first part of this paper I discuss the hierarchy of lengths and magnitudes of the density fluctuations in the macroscopically homogeneous liquid at different values of parameters. These results were partially obtained in the papers , however, since the local density fluctuations were not an experimental object at the time, these fluctuations were not properly described. I concentrate here on the thermodynamic density of states $`dn/d\mu `$. In fact, fluctuations of the density make liquid compressible at all values of average density. This means that $`dn/d\mu `$ is non-zero even when the chemical potential $`\mu `$ is inside the gap. Note that from the microscopic point of view the system with a long-range disorder is still a mixture of metallic and incompressible phases. Finite compressibility appears in the electrostatics, where electric field is averaged over the size larger than the sizes of typical fluctuations. Depending on the sizes of the tips which are used for imaging and the sizes of fluctuations one can measure either average values, like $`dn/d\mu `$, or fluctuations themselves.

In the second part of the paper I consider a system with a density gradient. In this case the average occupations of different Landau levels (LL’s) depend on coordinate. The problem is that between the regions occupied by electrons of the two different LL’s there is a region of “incompressible liquid”, where density is supposed to be constant. This problem has been previously addressed by Chklovskii, Shklovskii and Glazman, referred below as CSG. They have presented an analytical solution of the equations of the non-linear screening in a magnetic field completely ignoring disorder. Their solution contains a strip of incompressible liquid which separates compressible regions of two different LL’s. From electrostatic point of view this strip has a dipole moment per length which depends on magnetic field.

I consider the case when applied gradient of density is much smaller than the random gradients created by disorder. In this case transition region is a random mixture of different compressible phases and incompressible phase. The system is neutral in average if one takes into account a realistic value of $`dn/d\mu `$. However, there are strong fluctuations of density, which are the only manifestation of the transition region.

## II  Density fluctuations in macroscopically homogeneous system

I consider a model which consists of the plane with the two-dimensional electron liquid (TDEL) in a perpendicular magnetic field. Only few lowest LL’s are supposed to be occupied. The parallel plane with randomly distributed charged donors is at a distance $`s`$ from the TDEL. The average density of the charged donors is $`C`$. We assume that $`s`$ is much larger than both the average distances between electrons and the distance between donors. All spatial harmonics of the donor fluctuations with the wave length $`R`$ smaller than $`s`$ create an exponentially small potential in the plane of the TDEL. The mean square fluctuation of the donor charge in the square $`s\times s`$ is $`e\sqrt{Cs^2}`$, while the density fluctuation is of order $`\sqrt{C}/s`$. Such fluctuations create a random potential of order of $`W=e^2\sqrt{C}/\kappa `$, where $`\kappa `$ is the lattice dielectric constant. This potential can be successfully screened by by a small redistribution of electron density if average density $`n`$ of the highest partially occupied LL is larger than $`\sqrt{C}/s`$. This type of screening with $`\delta n/n1`$ is called the linear screening. Because of the linear screening the potential of the TDEL can be considered as a constant From electrostatic point of view the TDEL in this case is a metal, however, $`dn/d\mu `$ is negative.

The ratio of the gap $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ to the energy $`W`$ is an important parameter of the problem. For integer gaps in GaAs-based structures $`\mathrm{\Delta }=W`$ in magnetic field $`B2\mathrm{T}`$ if $`C=10^{11}\mathrm{cm}^2`$. In what follows it is convenient to consider separately two different cases.

### A  $`\mathrm{\Delta }W`$.

In this subsection I refer to the work where the non-linear screening has been considered in the one-level approximation ignoring holes at the lower LL. The break down of the linear screening has been found at $`n_c=0.42\sqrt{C}/s`$. It happens very sharp and at lower density the chemical potential goes down as

$$\mu =\frac{W}{14}\left(\frac{C^{1/2}}{ns}2.4\right)=\frac{WC^{1/2}}{14s}\left(\frac{1}{n}\frac{1}{n_c}\right),$$
(1)   
where $`n<n_c`$.

The computer modeling does not show any deviation from Eq. (1) in the region defined by inequalities $`0>\mu >2W`$ and $`2.4>C^{1/2}/ns>40`$. Thus, if $`\mathrm{\Delta }<4W`$, one can use Eq. (1) to find the thermodynamic density of states $`dn/d\mu `$. Note that $`d\mu /dn`$ as obtained from Eq. (1) is positive. This approximation ignores internal energy of the TDEL which comes from the interaction and which is responsible for the negative compressibility. The chemical potential of an ideal interacting system can be just added to the right hand part of Eq. (1). Then one can find that the compressibility changes sign with decreasing $`n`$ at $`nn_c`$.

In the region of the non-linear screening the characteristic size $`R`$ of the potential fluctuations should increase with decreasing density as $`\sqrt{c}/n`$. This result has been first obtained by Shklovskii and Efros for the 3d non-linear screening. It can be easily generalized for the 2d-case as well. At $`n=n_c`$, the size $`R`$ is of the order of linear screening radius. This length is supposed to be much smaller than all characteristic lengths of the non-linear screening, which start with the spacer length $`s`$. Assuming that the linear screening radius is zero, one can propose the equation

$$R=\frac{b\sqrt{c}}{n}(0.42ns/\sqrt{c})=\frac{sb}{n}(n_cn),$$
(2)   
where $`b`$ is a numerical constant and $`n<n_c`$. For a very rough estimate of the constant $`b`$ one can analyze the size effect in computer simulation of the chemical potential at small $`n`$. Such an analysis shows that $`b`$ is not very far from unity.

At $`\mu <\mathrm{\Delta }/2`$ the screening by the holes in the lower LL becomes important. One can rewrite Eq. (1) in such a form that it will be applicable when $`\mu `$ is near the lower LL

$$\mu =\mathrm{\Delta }+\frac{W}{14}\left(\frac{C^{1/2}}{ps}2.4\right)=\mathrm{\Delta }+\frac{WC^{1/2}}{14s}\left(\frac{1}{p}\frac{1}{n_c}\right),$$
(3)   
where the density of holes $`p`$ in the lower LL is less than $`n_c`$.

The Eqs. (1,3) are not exact in the middle of the gap. Nevertheless, one can use them to estimate the electron and hole densities at $`\mu =\mathrm{\Delta }/2`$ as

$$n_m=p_m=\frac{e^2C}{7\kappa \mathrm{\Delta }}.$$
(4)   
Electrostatic potential in the plane of TDEL changes with decreasing electron density $`n`$ in the following way. At $`n>n_c`$ a strong linear screening makes the change of the potential negligible. The peaks in the potential appear when $`n<n_c`$. In the planar regions the energy equals $`\mu `$ and electron density is not constant. We call these regions metallic. In the region of incompressible liquid the potential energy exceeds $`\mu `$. The percolation through metallic regions disappears at $`n_p=0.11\sqrt{C}/s`$. At $`\mu =\mathrm{\Delta }/2`$ almost all the area is occupied by the incompressible liquid. When $`\mu `$ becomes closer to the lower LL metallic regions appear again but this time they consist of the holes in the lower LL. The percolation through this new metal appears at hole density $`p_p=n_p`$ and, at $`p_c=n_c`$, the linear screening transforms all the area into metal.

In my early papers I predicted that the width of the plateaus of the quantum Hall effect in a clean material should be $`2n_p`$. Later on it becomes clear that the low-temperature experimental values are much larger and this contradiction is still not resolved completely. Koulakov et al. argued that the plateaus become larger because of the pinning of modulated TDEL. Hopefully, the simultaneous measurements of electron density distribution and quantum Hall effect may answer this question.

### B  $`\mathrm{\Delta }W`$.

The distribution of electron density in this case can be obtained in a framework of an analytical theory which has been constructed for the fractional gaps to explain capacitance data by Eisenstein et al.. This theory can be reformulated for the integer gaps in the following way.

The non-linear screening appears at the same value of electron density in the upper LL, namely at $`n_c=0.42\sqrt{C}/s`$. With decreasing $`n`$ the random potential becomes very soon of the order of $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$. The plane with the TDEL consists of metallic regions of two different types. One type contains electron of the upper LL and the other one contains holes of the lower LL. The typical size of this regions is of the order of the spacer width $`s`$. A simple electrostatic estimate shows that the width of the incompressible strips $`l`$ between these two metals is of the order of $`s\sqrt{(\mathrm{\Delta }/W)}`$. Since $`ls`$, one can use the quantitative theory by CSG to write

$$l^2=\frac{4\kappa \mathrm{\Delta }}{\pi ^2e^2|n(𝐫)|},$$
(5)   
where density gradient is taken at a boundary of a metallic region in the direction perpendicular to the boundary. Since statistical properties of the donor distribution $`C(𝐫)`$ is known, one can calculate the distribution of electron density. The most important result is the fraction $`Q`$ of the plane occupied by the incompressible liquid. It is given by equation

$$Q=2(3/\pi ^5)^{1/4}\mathrm{\Gamma }(\frac{5}{4})\left(\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }}{W}\right)^{1/2}\mathrm{exp}\frac{(n\nu n_0)^2}{\delta ^2},$$
(6)   
where $`\delta ^2=C/(4\pi s^2)`$, and $`\nu `$ is an integer filling factor. The incompressible liquid occupies the maximum fraction of the plane when average electron density $`n`$ is $`\nu n_0`$. In this case $`Q0.57(\mathrm{\Delta }/W)^{1/2}`$. Computer simulation shows that this result is valid at least at $`\mathrm{\Delta }/W0.4`$. Note that at $`\mathrm{\Delta }/W=0.4`$ the maximum fraction of incompressible liquid $`Q0.36`$

Finally, at $`\mathrm{\Delta }<W`$ the fraction of incompressible liquid is small even when chemical potential $`\mu `$ is exactly in the middle of the gap. At this point the most part of the plane is occupied by electron and hole metals with narrow filaments of incompressible liquid between them. The thermodynamic density of states is of the order $`\mathrm{\Delta }/n_c`$.

## III Spatial transition between Landau levels due to a macroscopic density gradient.

Suppose now that there is a small density gradient $`g`$ in $`x`$-direction created by the side electrodes or inhomogeneous distribution of donors. We assume that that this gradient is much smaller than the typical microscopic gradient of density $`g_f`$ that appears due to fluctuations of donor’s charge in the scale $`s`$. One gets

$$g_f=\sqrt{C}/s^2.$$
(7)   
The value of $`g_f`$ is $`1.3\times 10^{16}\mathrm{cm}^3`$ at $`C=10^{11}\mathrm{cm}^2`$ and $`s=5\times 10^6\mathrm{cm}`$.

If the thermodynamic density of states is large enough and $`g`$ is small enough, one can consider the TDEL as a metal where macroscopic electric field is averaged over the distances larger than the size of the fluctuations described in the previous section. The electron density can be found from the condition that electrostatic potential $`\varphi `$ is constant in the plane of the TDEL while the density itself is determined by a normal component of electric field $`E_z`$. In this approximation density is independent of the the magnetic field and reproduces the density gradient of charged donors. Since the TDEL is not an ideal metal this approximation is not exact. The lateral electric field $`E_x`$ is non-zero and it can be found from the condition $`\mu +e\varphi =\mathrm{const}`$. Thus, $`E_x=(1/e)(d\mu /dn)g`$. The metallic approximation for electron density is good if $`|E_x||E_z|`$, where $`E_z=4\pi en(x)/\kappa `$ is a normal component of electric field and the density $`n(x)`$ does not include completely occupied LL’s. The general condition of the metallic approximation is

$$|\frac{d\mu }{dn}|\frac{g\kappa }{4\pi e^2n(x)}1.$$
(8)   
This approximation is good at small gradients $`g`$ and at large $`|dn/d\mu |`$. The theory by CSG assumes $`dn/d\mu =0`$. Thus, the two theories are applicable at different conditions.

In the case $`\mathrm{\Delta }<W`$ one can substitute the estimate $`d\mu /dn\mathrm{\Delta }/n_c`$ into Eq.(8) to find that metallic approximation is valid if

$$\frac{g}{4\pi g_f}\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }}{W}1.$$
(9)   
At $`\mathrm{\Delta }W`$ this condition is always fulfilled. Note that CSG also mentioned that there theory is not applicable at $`\mathrm{\Delta }<W`$.

Now I come to the case of a strong magnetic field and weak disorder where $`\mathrm{\Delta }W`$. The electron density becomes inhomogeneous at $`n<n_c`$. At this density the estimate for the thermodynamic density of states is $`dn/d\mu n_c/W`$, and the metallic approximation works if $`gg_f`$. This condition is usually fulfilled, but at lower density, when chemical potential is deep in the gap, the condition changes. The spatial point, where the chemical potential is in the middle of the gap, is the most dangerous for the metallic approximation because of the small thermodynamic density of states. Thus, the metallic approximation is valid everywhere if Eq. (8) is fulfilled at the point $`\mu =\mathrm{\Delta }/2`$, where $`n=n_m`$. Making use of Eqs. (1,4,8 ) one gets the condition

$$2\left(\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }}{W}\right)^3\frac{g}{g_f}1.$$
(10)   
If the condition Eq. (10) is not fulfilled the metallic approximation is violated within some spatial region with the chemical potential $`|\mu \mathrm{\Delta }/2|<\mathrm{\Delta }^{}`$. In this case one should apply the theory by CSG to the central part of the transition region substituting effective gap $`\mathrm{\Delta }^{}`$ instead of $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$. With increasing gradient and increasing magnetic field the length of this central part increases. Note that this possibility has been considered by CSG in Fig. 5 of their paper.

## IV Conclusion

The theory by CSG gives a sharp transition strip between two metallic regions corresponding two LL’s. Electron densities changes due to this transition to form the “dipolar strip” with the dipole moment depending on magnetic field. The width of the strip is given by Eq. (5) where $`|n(𝐫)|`$ should be substituted by $`g`$.

I have shown above that at small $`g`$ and moderate magnetic fields the average electron density is the same as without magnetic field. The fluctuations of this density are the only manifestation of the transition. These fluctuation are strong in the spatial region with the non-linear screening. The size of this region $`l`$ can be obtained from condition $`gl=2n_c`$. This might be a large band of the micron size. It is much larger than the typical size of the fluctuations. That is why I can use Eq. (8) with compressibility $`d\mu /dn`$ resulting from these fluctuations. Both the shape and the size of the fluctuations strongly depend on magnetic field.

If $`\mathrm{\Delta }W`$, the fraction of incompressible liquid as a function of coordinate can be obtained from the Eq.(6) by substituting $`n=n(x)`$, where $`n(x)`$ is electron density without magnetic field.

One can compare this conclusion with the experimental data by Yakoby et al., where $`\mathrm{\Delta }<W`$. This data show wide transition regions with intermediate compressibility, which is probably, the result of averaging.

## V Acknowledgment

I am grateful to A. Yakoby for attracting my attention to this problem and for sending me the preprint of the paper.