Magnetotransport along a boundary: from coherent electron focusing to edge channel transport

Abstract

We study theoretically how electrons, coherently injected at one point on the boundary of a two-dimensional electron system, are focused by a perpendicular magnetic field B onto another point on the boundary. Using the non-equilibrium Green's function approach, we calculate the generalized four-point Hall resistance R _xy as a function of B . In weak fields, R _xy shows the characteristic equidistant peaks observed in the experiment and explained by classical cyclotron motion along the boundary. In strong fields, R _xy shows a single extended plateau reflecting the quantum Hall effect. In intermediate fields, we find superimposed upon the lower Hall plateaus anomalous oscillations, which are neither periodic in 1/ B (quantum Hall effect) nor in B (classical cyclotron motion). The oscillations are explained by the interference between the occupied edge channels, which causes beatings in R _xy . In the case of two occupied edge channels, these beatings constitute a new commensurability between the magnetic flux enclosed within the edge channels and the flux quantum. Introducing decoherence and a partially specular boundary shows that this new effect is quite robust.