This article is cited in 13 papers

REVIEWS OF TOPICAL PROBLEMS

Two-dimensional system of strongly interacting electrons in silicon (100) structures

V. T. Dolgopolov<sup>ab

a</sup> Institute of Solid State Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Chernogolovka, Moscow region
^b Editorial Board of JETP Letters

Abstract: Studies of various experimental groups that explore the properties of a two-dimensional electron gas in silicon semiconductor systems ((100) Si-MOSFET and (100) SiGe/Si/SiGe quantum wells) in the vicinity of the metal–insulator transition are described and critically analyzed. Results are identified that are common to all research: (i) the effective mass of electrons measured at the Fermi level in the metallic region increases as the electron density decreases and, if extrapolated, tends to diverge; (ii) the behavior of the energy-averaged mass in the metallic region is quite different in the two systems: in Si-MOSFETs, it also exhibits a tendency to diverge, while in the SiGe/Si/SiGe quantum wells it saturates in the limit of low electron densities; (iii) there is a small number (depending on the sample quality) of localized electrons in the metallic phase; (iv) the properties that the electron system exhibits in the insulating phase in the vicinity of the metal–insulator transition are typical of amorphous media with a strong coupling between particles.

Keywords: two-dimensional electron system, metal–insulator transition, effective mass.

PACS: 71.27.+a, 71.30.+h, 73.20.-r

Received: April 28, 2018
Revised: October 7, 2018
Accepted: October 16, 2018

DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.2018.10.038449

 English version: Physics–Uspekhi, 2019, 62:7, 633–648

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