Universality of quantum phase transitions in the integer and fractional quantum Hall regimes

Fractional quantum Hall (FQH) phases emerge due to strong electronic interactions and are characterized by anyonic quasiparticles, each distinguished by unique topological parameters, fractional charge, and statistics. In contrast, the integer quantum Hall (IQH) effects can be understood from the band topology of non-interacting electrons. We report a surprising super-universality of the critical behavior across all FQH and IQH transitions. Contrary to the anticipated state-dependent critical exponents, our findings reveal the same critical scaling exponent κ = 0.41 ± 0.02 and localization length exponent γ = 2.4 ± 0.2 for fractional and integer quantum Hall transitions. From these, we extract the value of the dynamical exponent z ≈ 1. We have achieved this in ultra-high mobility trilayer graphene devices with a metallic screening layer close to the conduction channels. The observation of these global critical exponents across various quantum Hall phase transitions was masked in previous studies by significant sample-to-sample variation in the measured values of κ in conventional semiconductor heterostructures, where long-range correlated disorder dominates. We show that the robust scaling exponents are valid in the limit of short-range disorder correlations.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2024-10-02
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-52927-w
Citations
11
Primary Topic
Quantum and electron transport phenomena
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
3.71

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article

Universality of quantum phase transitions in the integer and fractional quantum Hall regimes

Unmesh Ghorai, Takashi Taniguchi, Divya Sahani, Kenji Watanabe et al.
11 citations
Nature Communications
Quantum and electron transport phenomena
3.71
article

Universality of quantum phase transitions in the integer and fractional quantum Hall regimes

Unmesh Ghorai, Takashi Taniguchi, Divya Sahani, Kenji Watanabe, Yuval Gefen, Aveek Bid, Kazi Rafsanjani Amin, Tanima Chanda, Simrandeep Kaur, G. J. Sreejith
article en
11 citations

Abstract

Fractional quantum Hall (FQH) phases emerge due to strong electronic interactions and are characterized by anyonic quasiparticles, each distinguished by unique topological parameters, fractional charge, and statistics. In contrast, the integer quantum Hall (IQH) effects can be understood from the band topology of non-interacting electrons. We report a surprising super-universality of the critical behavior across all FQH and IQH transitions. Contrary to the anticipated state-dependent critical exponents, our findings reveal the same critical scaling exponent κ = 0.41 ± 0.02 and localization length exponent γ = 2.4 ± 0.2 for fractional and integer quantum Hall transitions. From these, we extract the value of the dynamical exponent z ≈ 1. We have achieved this in ultra-high mobility trilayer graphene devices with a metallic screening layer close to the conduction channels. The observation of these global critical exponents across various quantum Hall phase transitions was masked in previous studies by significant sample-to-sample variation in the measured values of κ in conventional semiconductor heterostructures, where long-range correlated disorder dominates. We show that the robust scaling exponents are valid in the limit of short-range disorder correlations.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 15(1)
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (IN), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune (IN), National Institute for Materials Science (JP), Weizmann Institute of Science (IL), Indian Institute of Science Bangalore (IN), Chalmers University of Technology (SE)
Indian Institute of Science, Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India, Minerva Foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command
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Openalex Percentile: Top 6%
Quantum and electron transport phenomena
3.71
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