Experimental Evidence of a Directed-Flux Phase of Condensed Matter

Abstract

We demonstrate experimentally that in an asymmetric quantum well in presence of quantizing magnetic field tilted in XZ plane, confining potential V(z) lifts Landau level degeneracy related to position of the centers of electron cyclotron orbits along X axis. This results in a transformation of the Landau levels into the bands in which the electrons may possess nonzero directed velocity along Y axis. We directly demonstrate that the electrons are spatially separated along X axis depending on their velocity along Y axis that means spontaneous one-dimensional electron fluxes flow in opposite directions along Y axis even within the fully occupied bands. We also directly demonstrate that the electrons possess nonzero electric dipole moment as a result of Lorentz force effect on these one-dimensional fluxes. On the basis of these experiments we put forward the concept of a directed-flux phase of condensed matter.