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Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 256802 (2008) [4 pages]

Quantum Hall Transition in Real Space: From Localized to Extended States

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K. Hashimoto1,2,3,*, C. Sohrmann4, J. Wiebe1, T. Inaoka5, F. Meier1,†, Y. Hirayama2,3, R. A. Römer4, R. Wiesendanger1, and M. Morgenstern6,7
1Institute of Applied Physics, Hamburg University, Jungiusstrae 11, D-20355 Hamburg, Germany
2Department of Physics, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578, Japan
3ERATO Nuclear Spin Electronics Project, Sendai 980-8578, Japan
4Department of Physics and Center for Scientific Computing, University of Warwick, Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
5Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, University of the Ryukyus, 1 Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan
6II. Institute of Physics B, RWTH Aachen University, D-52074 Aachen, Germany
7JARA-Fundamentals of Future Information Technology, D-52074 Aachen, Germany

Received 18 September 2008; published 15 December 2008

Using scanning tunneling spectroscopy in an ultrahigh vacuum at low temperature (T=0.3  K) and high magnetic fields (B≤12  T), we directly probe electronic wave functions across an integer quantum Hall transition. In accordance with theoretical predictions, we observe the evolution from localized drift states in the insulating phases to branched extended drift states at the quantum critical point. The observed microscopic behavior close to the extended state indicates points of localized quantum tunneling, which are considered to be decisive for a quantitative description of the transition.

© 2008 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.256802
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.256802
PACS:
73.43.Nq, 73.20.At, 73.43.Cd

*hashi@mail.tains.tohoku.ac.jp

†Present address: Department of Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853, USA.

 
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