Linear Electron Chains on the Liquid Helium Surface: Carrier Transport

Abstract

The unique system - linear electron chains on the liquid helium surface was realized experimentally for the first time. The system was realized using curvature of the liquid helium surface film covering a profiled substrate with a small dielectric constant and a pressing electric field holding electrons in the liquid channels. The conductivity of carriers in linear electron chains and magnetoresistance of a quasi-one-dimensional system have been measured in the temperature range 0.5 - 1.8 K in holding electric fields up to 1 kV/cm. The transport properties of the system depend on the substrate cleanness. For a clean system the electron mobility increases with decreasing temperature, the data are in good agreement with the existing theory which describes transport properties in a one-dimensional electron system without localization. Charging of substrate leads to the localization process in electron chains. It has been shown that in the absence of localization magnetoresistance of a quasi-one-dimensional system on liquid helium in the region of ripplon scattering increases with increasing magnetic field.