title: Effects of a parallel magnetic field on the metal-insulator transition in a dilute two-dimensional electron system.
abstract: The temperature dependence of conductivity sigma(T) of a two-dimensional electron system in silicon has been studied in parallel magnetic fields B. At B = 0, the system displays a metal-insulator transition at a critical electron density n(c)(0), and dsigma/dT>0 in the metallic phase. At low fields ( B < or approximately equal to 2 T), n(c) increases as n(c)(B)-n(c)(0) proportional, variant Bbeta ( beta approximately 1), and the zero-temperature conductivity scales as sigma(n(s),B,T = 0)/sigma(n(s),0,0) = f(B(beta)/delta(n)), where delta(n) = [n(s)-n(c)(0)]/n(c)(0) and n(s) is electron density, as expected for a quantum phase transition. The metallic phase persists in fields of up to 18 T, consistent with the saturation of n(c) at high fields.
authors.affiliation: National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32310, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eng
authors.forename: X G
authors.initials: XG
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Dragana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Popović
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Washburn