Metal-Insulator Transition in a Low-Mobility Two-Dimensional Electron System

Abstract

We have varied the disorder in a two-dimensional electron system in silicon by applying substrate bias. When the disorder becomes sufficiently low, we observe the emergence of the metallic phase, and find evidence for a metal-insulator transition (MIT): the single-parameter scaling of conductivity with temperature near a critical electron density. We obtain the scaling function $β$, which determines the length (or temperature) dependence of the conductance. $β$ is smooth and monotonic, and linear in the logarithm of the conductance near the MIT, in agreement with the scaling theory for interacting systems.

4 pages, LaTeX, physica.sty (slightly modified prabib.sty), Submitted to the 1997 Conference on Electronic Properties of Two-Dimensional Systems