Localization of fractionally charged quasi-particles.
An outstanding question pertaining to the microscopic properties of the fractional quantum Hall effect is understanding the nature of the particles that participate in the localization but that do not contribute to electronic transport. By using a scanning single electron transistor, we imaged the individual localized states in the fractional quantum Hall regime and determined the charge of the localizing particles. Highlighting the symmetry between filling factors 1/3 and 2/3, our measurements show that quasi-particles with fractional charge e* = e/3 localize in space to submicrometer dimensions, where e is the electron charge.
Martin
Jens
J
Weizmann Institute of Science, Condensed Matter Physics, 76100 Rehovot, Israel. jens.martin@weizmann.ac.il
Ilani
Shahal
S
Verdene
Basile
B
Smet
Jurgen
J
Umansky
Vladimir
V
Mahalu
Diana
D
Schuh
Dieter
D
Abstreiter
Gerhard
G
Yacoby
Amir
A