title: Splitting of the Fermi Contour of Quasi-2D Electrons in Parallel Magnetic Fields.
abstract: In a quasi-two-dimensional electron system with nonzero layer thickness, a parallel magnetic field can couple to the out-of-plane electron motion and lead to a severe distortion and eventual splitting of the Fermi contour. Here we directly and quantitatively probe this evolution through commensurability and Shubnikov-de Haas measurements on electrons confined to a 40-nm-wide GaAs (001) quantum well. We are able to observe the Fermi contour splitting phenomenon, in good agreement with the results of semiclassical calculations. Experimentally, we also observe intriguing features, suggesting magnetic-breakdown-type behavior when the Fermi contour splits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mueed
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kamburov
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shayegan
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA.
authors.forename: L N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Pfeiffer
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA.
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: West
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA.
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Baldwin
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois 60115, USA.|Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Winkler