Published in:
Physical Review Letters 106,1 (2011)
Link to original published article:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.016804
Abstract
Preferential orientation of the stripe phases in the quantum Hall (QH) regime has remained a puzzle since its discovery. We show experimentally and theoretically that the direction of high and low resistance of the two-dimensional (2D) hole gas in the QH regime can be controlled by an external strain. Depending on the sign of the in-plane shear strain, the Hartree-Fock energy of holes or electrons is minimized when the charge density wave (CDW) is oriented along the [110] or [1 (1) over bar0] directions. We suggest that shear strains due to internal electric fields in the growth direction are responsible for the observed orientation of CDW in pristine electron and hole samples.
Date of this Version
January 2011