Variational quantum Monte Carlo calculation of the effective spin Landé g factor in a two-dimensional electron system

The effect of exchange interaction on quasiparticle Landau levels in narrow-gap quantum well heterostructures

Using the 'screened' Hartree-Fock approximation based on the eight-band k·p Hamiltonian, we have extended our previous work (Krishtopenko et al 2011 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 23 385601) on exchange enhancement of the g-factor in narrow-gap quantum well heterostructures by calculating the exchange renormalization of quasiparticle energies, the density of states at the Fermi level and the quasiparticle g-factor for different Landau levels overlapping. We demonstrate that exchange interaction yields more pronounced Zeeman splitting of the density of states at the Fermi level and leads to the appearance of peak-shaped features in the dependence of the Landau level energies on the magnetic field at integer filling factors. We also find that the quasiparticle g-factor does not reach the maximum value at odd filling factors in the presence of large overlapping of spin-split Landau levels. We advance an argument that the behavior of the quasiparticle g-factor in weak magnetic fields is defined by a random potential of impurities in narrow-gap heterostructures.

Theory of g-factor enhancement in narrow-gap quantum well heterostructures

We report on the study of the exchange enhancement of the g-factor in the two-dimensional (2D) electron gas in n-type narrow-gap semiconductor heterostructures. Our approach is based on the eight-band k⋅p Hamiltonian and takes into account the band nonparabolicity, the lattice deformation, the spin-orbit coupling and the Landau level broadening in the δ-correlated random potential model. Using the 'screened' Hartree-Fock approximation we demonstrate that the exchange g-factor enhancement not only shows maxima at odd values of Landau level filling factors but, due to the conduction band nonparabolicity, persists at even filling factor values as well. The magnitude of the exchange enhancement, the amplitude and the shape of the g-factor oscillations are determined by both the screening of the electron-electron interaction and the Landau level width. The 'enhanced' g-factor values calculated for the 2D electron gas in InAs/AlSb quantum well heterostructures are compared with our earlier experimental data and with those obtained by Mendez et al (1993 Phys. Rev. B 47 13937) in magnetic fields up to 30 T.