Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 15, 2026

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
Reorientation of the Stripe Phase of 2D Electrons by a Minute Density Modulation
M A Mueed1, Md Shafayat Hossain1, L N Pfeiffer1
1Department of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA.
Abstract:
Interacting two-dimensional electrons confined in a GaAs quantum well exhibit isotropic transport when the Fermi level resides in the first excited (N=1) Landau level. Adding an in-plane magnetic field (B_{||}) typically leads to an anisotropic, stripelike (nematic) phase of electrons with the stripes oriented perpendicular to the B_{||} direction. Our experimental data reveal how a periodic density modulation, induced by a surface strain grating from strips of negative electron-beam resist, competes against the B_{||}-induced orientational order of the stripe phase. Even a minute (<0.25%) density modulation is sufficient to reorient the stripes along the direction of the surface grating.
Related Concept Videos
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Relaxation Processes
π Electron Effects on Chemical Shift: Overview
Two-Dimensional (2D) NMR: Overview
The first step is the preparation period, during which nucleus A is excited with a radiofrequency pulse....
The Electrical Double Layer
Dielectric Polarization in a Capacitor
¹H NMR: Interpreting Distorted and Overlapping Signals
As Δν decreases and the signals move closer, the doublets appear increasingly distorted. The intensities of the inner lines increase at the cost of those of the outer lines as the signals are...

