title: Incipient formation of an electron lattice in a weakly confined quantum wire.
abstract: We study the low-temperature transport properties of 1D quantum wires as the confinement strength V_{conf} and the carrier density n_{1D} are varied using a combination of split gates and a top gate in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures. At intermediate V_{conf} and n_{1D}, we observe a jump in conductance to 4e;{2}/h, suggesting a double wire. On further reducing n_{1D}, plateau at 2e;{2}/h returns. Our results show beginnings of the formation of an electron lattice in an interacting quasi-1D quantum wire. In the presence of an in-plane magnetic field, mixing of spin-aligned levels of the two wires gives rise to more complex states.
authors.affiliation: Cavendish Laboratory, J. J. Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: W K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Hew
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pepper
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Farrer
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: G A C
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Ritchie