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Phys. Rev. B 66, 045108 (2002) [22 pages]

Magnetic field driven metal-insulator phase transition in planar systems

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E. V. Gorbar*
Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora 36036-330, Brazil

V. P. Gusynin
Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics, 03143, Kiev, Ukraine and Department of Physics, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan

V. A. Miransky*
Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada

I. A. Shovkovy*
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455

Received 12 March 2002; published 22 July 2002

A theory of the magnetic field driven (semi)metal-insulator phase transition is developed for planar systems with a low density of carriers and a linear (i.e., relativisticlike) dispersion relation for low-energy quasiparticles. The general structure of the phase diagram of the theory with respect to the coupling constant, the chemical potential, and the temperature is derived in two cases, with and without an external magnetic field. The conductivity and resistivity as functions of temperature and magnetic field are studied in detail. An exact relation for the value of the “offset” magnetic field Bc, determining the threshold for the realization of the phase transition at zero temperature, is established. The theory is applied to the description of a recently observed phase transition induced by a magnetic field in highly oriented pyrolytic graphite.

© 2002 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.66.045108
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevB.66.045108
PACS:
71.30.+h

*On leave of absence from Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics, 252143, Kiev, Ukraine.

 
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