Current distribution in narrow translation-invariant quantum-Hall-systems with lateral density modulation

Abstract

Abstract A previously developed self-consistent screening and magneto-transport theory for laterally confined, translation-invariant quantum-Hall-systems is applied to two-dimensional electron systems created by a donor sheet with a lateral density modulation. The previous calculations, assuming a homogeneous donor charge density, could explain experimental results on the spatial distribution of an applied source-drain-current, and the resulting Hall potential, only for the ‘edge-dominated’ low-magnetic-field part of a quantum-Hall-plateau, where the current flows through incompressible stripes near the edges. For the high-magnetic-field regime of the plateau, they predicted current flow only in a narrow stripe in the center of the sample, whereas the experiments found current in a wide region of its bulk. Assuming a suitably modulated donor charge density, we can avoid this discrepancy, and we obtain a strong dependence of the distribution of the applied current on magnetic field, lattice temperature, and the current-strength.