Critical supercurrents and self-organization in quantum Hall bilayers.

Area of Science:

• Condensed Matter Physics
• Quantum Hall Effect
• Mesoscopic Physics

Background:

• Disordered quantum Hall bilayers exhibit complex transport phenomena.
• Interlayer tunneling is crucial for understanding bilayer behavior at total filling factor one.
• Static vortices influence charge transport in these systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a theoretical model for interlayer tunneling in disordered quantum Hall bilayers.
• To explain the observed critical current behavior in recent experiments.
• To predict novel critical current dependencies on sample size and electron density.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical modeling of interlayer tunneling.
• Inclusion of static vortex effects.
• Analysis of critical current in relation to sample area and electron density.

Main Results:

• The critical current is proportional to the sample area, consistent with experimental findings.
• A Bean critical state is formed due to boundary current injection.
• A crossover to critical current proportional to the square-root of the area is predicted for smaller samples.
• A peak in critical current is predicted with variations in electron density.

Conclusions:

• The developed theory accurately describes interlayer tunneling and critical current in disordered quantum Hall bilayers.
• The Bean critical state model explains the observed area dependence of critical current.
• New predictions offer avenues for future experimental verification.