Pseudospin Quantum Hall Ferromagnetism Probed by Electron Spin Resonance

We study the effect of the pseudospin ferromagnetism with the aid of an electrically detected electron spin resonance in a wide AlAs quantum well containing a high quality two-dimensional electron system. Here, pseudospin emerges as a two-component degree of freedom, that labels degenerate energy minima in momentum space populated by electrons. The built-in mechanical strain in the sample studied imposes a finite "Zeeman" splitting between the pseudospin "up" and "down" states. Because of the anisotropy of the electron spin splitting we were able to independently measure the electron spin resonances originating from the two in-plane valleys. By analyzing the relative resonance amplitudes, we were able to investigate the ferromagnetic phase transitions taking place at integer filling factors of the quantum Hall effect when the magnetic field is tilted. The pseudospin nature of these transitions is demonstrated.