Evanescent incompressible strips as origin of the observed Hall resistance overshoot

Abstract

In this work we provide a systematic explanation to the unusual non-monotonic behavior of the Hall resistance observed in two-dimensional electron systems. We use a semi-analytical model based on the interaction theory of the integer quantized Hall effect to investigate the existence of the anomalous, i.e. overshoot, Hall resistance R-H. The observation of the overshoot resistance at low magnetic-field edge of the plateaus is elucidated by means of overlapping evanescent incompressible strips, formed due to strong magnetic fields and interactions. Utilizing a self-consistent numerical scheme we also show that, if the magnetic field is decreased the R-H decreases to its expected value. The effects of the sample width, temperature, disorder strength and magnetic field on the overshoot peaks are investigated in detail. Based on our findings, we predict a controllable procedure to manipulate the maxima of the peaks, which can be tested experimentally. Our model does not depend on specific and intrinsic properties of the material, provided that a single-particle gap exists. Copyright (C) EPLA, 2010