Breakdown of the Quantum Hall Effect in GaAs/AlGaAs Heterostructures Due to Current

Abstract

Properties of the breakdown of the quantum Hall effect due to current have been measured in specially designed samples with the width ranging from 10 to 120 µm made from a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure wafer at temperatures between 0.5 and 1.2 K in magnetic fields up to 23 T. Critical current in the onset of the breakdown is proportional to the sample width. The critical current density does not depend on temperature but depends on the Hall-plateau quantum number i for i =1, 2 and 4 where R H ( i )= h / i e 2 . Experimental results can be explained by production of dissipative carriers by inter-Landau-level transitions from the filled Landau level to the empty Landau level cuased by strong local electric fields in the extended states enhanced due to the localization.