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Experiments Provide Evidence for the Fractional Charge of Quasiparticles

JAN 01, 1990

In the fractional quantum Hall effect, the Hall conductance is quantized. In the most common manifestation of the effect, which was first observed in the two‐dimensional electron gas sandwiched between the semiconducting layers of a GaAs‐AlGaAs heterostructure, the magnetic field dependence of the Hall resistance shows an ascending‐staircase‐type behavior with increasing field strength. The steps in the staircase correspond to Hall conductance values of the form (p/q)e2/h, and they occur around the magnetic field values for which the number of electrons per magnetic field quantum is p/q, with p and q integers and q usually odd.

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Volume 43, Number 1

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