Resonant Phonon Scattering in Quantum Hall Systems Driven by dc Electric Fields

Using dc excitation to spatially tilt Landau levels, we study resonant acoustic phonon scattering in two-dimensional electron systems. We observe that dc electric field strongly modifies phonon resonances, transforming resistance maxima into minima and back into maxima. Further, phonon resonances are enhanced dramatically in the nonlinear dc response and can be detected even at low temperatures. Most of our observations can be explained in terms of dc-induced (de)tuning of the resonant acoustic phonon scattering and its interplay with inter–Landau level impurity scattering. Finally, we observe a resistance maximum when the electron drift velocity approaches the speed of sound and a dc-induced zero-differential resistance state.