The low-density spin susceptibility and effective mass of mobile electrons in Si inversion layers

Abstract

We studied the Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillations in high-mobility Si-MOS samples over a wide range of carrier densities $n\simeq (1-50) \times 10^{11}$cm$^{-2}$, which includes the vicinity of the apparent metal-insulator transition in two dimensions (2D MIT). Using a novel technique of measuring the SdH oscillations in superimposed and independently controlled parallel and perpendicular magnetic fields, we determined the spin susceptibility $\chi^*$, the effective mass $m^*$, and the $g^*$-factor for mobile electrons. These quantities increase gradually with decreasing density; near the 2D MIT, we observed enhancement of $\chi^*$ by a factor of $\sim 4.7$.