Nonequilibrium phenomena in high Landau levels

Abstract

Developments in the physics of 2D electron systems during the last decade revealed a new class of nonequilibrium phenomena in the presence of a moderately strong magnetic field. The hallmark of these phenomena is magnetoresistance oscillations generated by the external forces that drive the electron system out of equilibrium. The rich set of dramatic phenomena of this kind, discovered in high-mobility semiconductor nanostructures, includes, in particular, microwave radiation-induced resistance oscillations and zero-resistance states, as well as Hall field-induced resistance oscillations and associated zero-differential resistance states. The experimental manifestations of these phenomena and the unified theoretical framework for describing them in terms of a quantum kinetic equation are reviewed. This survey also contains a thorough discussion of the magnetotransport properties of 2D electrons in the linear-response regime, as well as an outlook on future directions, including related nonequilibrium phenomena in other 2D electron systems.