Low-dimensional electronic systems on a liquid helium surface (Review)

Abstract

The results of theoretical and experimental investigations of the properties of two-dimensional electronic systems on a liquid helium surface are reviewed. Such well-known problems as the description of the electronic states above a flat liquid-vapor interface and the interaction with surface excitations of helium are examined briefly. The collective effects are described in greater detail: two-dimensional plasma waves, Wigner crystallization, crystallization of electronic systems with screened interaction, instability of a charged helium surface, and macroscopic structures. New, interesting systems on a liquid helium surface, accessible to experimental study, are also described.