Piezoelectric mechanism for the orientational pinning of bilayer Wigner crystals and stripes in a GaAs matrix

Abstract

We investigate the phonon mechanism for the orientational pinning of Wigner crystals and stripes in two-dimensional electron layers in GaAs matrices. We find the orientation of bilayer Wigner crystals on the (001), (111), (0-11) and (311) interfaces versus the interlayer distance and determine the regions of parameters, where polydomain structures can emerge. For the stripe states in electron layers situated close to the (001) surface we show that the interference between the piezoelectric and deformation potential interaction may be responsible for the preferable orientation of the stripes along the [110] direction. For the bilayer system on the (001) interfaces we predict the suppression of the resistance anisotropy.