Abstract
We have observed controlled, low-voltage breakdown of the quantum Hall state in heterostructures with lateral constrictions a few micrometers in width. The breakdown characteristics show an onset of dissipation at voltages corresponding to the cyclotron energy for even filling factors. Analysis of these results in terms of a simple model implies that the dissipation process involves interlevel as well as intralevel scattering, and therefore that large potential gradients are present in the two-dimensional electron gas.
- Received 21 May 1986
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.34.1384
©1986 American Physical Society