Condensed Matter Physics Seminar

2 p.m., Thursday, December 11, 2003
Room 1201, Physics Building

Metal-insulator transition in 2D: history and new developments

Sergey Kravchenko

(Northeastern University)

Abstract: The interplay between strong Coulomb interactions and randomness has been a long-standing problem in condensed matter physics. It is well known that in two-dimensional systems of noninteracting or weakly interacting electrons, the ever-present randomness causes the resistance to rise as the temperature is decreased, leading to an insulating ground state. However, new evidence has emerged within the past decade indicating a transition from insulating to metallic phase in two-dimensional systems of strongly interacting electrons. I will briefly discuss earlier experiments that demonstrate the unexpected presence of a metallic phase in two dimensions and present an overview of recent experiments with emphasis on the anomalous magnetic properties that have been observed in the vicinity of the transition.

Host: Yakovenko
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