Nonequilibrium transport in density-modulated phases of the second Landau level

Abstract

We investigate non-equilibrium transport in the reentrant integer quantum Hall phases of the second Landau level. At high currents, we observe a transition from the reentrant integer quantum Hall phases to classical Hall-conduction. Surprisingly, this transition is markedly different for the hole- and electron sides of each spin-branch. While the hole bubble phases exhibit a sharp transition to an isotropic compressible phase, the transition for the electron side occurs via an intermediate phase. This might indicate a more complex structure of the bubble phases than currently anticipated, or a breaking of the particle-hole symmetry. Such a symmetry breaking in the second Landau level might also have consequences for the physics at filling factor $\nu$=5/2.