- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine

Physical Review Research

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

Interplay between electron-hole and impurity scattering in HgTe-based quantum wells

A. V. Snegirev1,2, V. M. Kovalev1,3, M. V. Entin1, E. B. Olshanetsky1,*, G. M. Gusev4, N. N. Mikhailov1, and Z. D. Kvon1,2

  • *Contact author: eugene.olshanetsky@gmail.com
PDF

Phys. Rev. Research 7, 043169 – Published 14 November, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/qgrt-x2x5

Abstract

A 20-nm-wide (100)-oriented HgTe quantum well (QW) hosts a two-dimensional (2D) semimetal comprising both electrons and holes. In this study, we report that in addition to the previously observed quadratic temperature dependence of resistance, the system also displays an unexpected linear temperature dependence within specific top-gate voltage ranges. To account for this behavior, we extend the existing theoretical framework for temperature-dependent resistance in HgTe QW-based 2D semimetals with a focus on electron-hole scattering at low temperatures. Using the Boltzmann transport equation, we investigate the role of electron-hole interactions in this 2D semimetal. Our calculations reproduce a resistivity temperature dependence that aligns closely with experimental data. These findings establish this system as a robust platform for exploring interaction-limited transport regimes in a two-component plasma, particularly in the presence of disorder.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (34)

  1. H. K. Pal, V. I. Yudson, and D. L. Maslov, Reistivity of non Galilean invariant term Fermi and non Fermi liquids, Lith. J. Phys. 52, 142 (2012).
  2. Y. Nam, D.-K. Ki, D. Soler-Delgado, and A. F. Morpurgo, Electron-hole collision limited transport in charge-neutral bilayer graphene, Nat. Phys. 13, 1207 (2017).
  3. C. Tan, D. Y. H. Ho, L. Wang, J. I. A. Li, I. Yudhistira, D. A. Rhodes, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe, K. Shepard, P. L. McEuen, C. R. Dean, S. Adam, and J. Hone, Dissipation-enabled hydrodynamic conductivity in a tunable bandgap semiconductor, Sci. Adv. 8, eabi8481 (2022).
  4. E. B. Olshanetsky, Z. D. Kvon, M. V. Entin, L. I. Magarill, N. N. Mikhailov, and S. A. Dvoretsky, Scattering processes in a two-dimensional semimetal, JETP Lett. 89, 290 (2009).
  5. M. V. Entin, L. I. Magarill, E. B. Olshanetsky, Z. D. Kvon, N. N. Mikhailov, and S. A. Dvoretsky, The effect of electron-hole scattering on transport properties of a 2D semimetal in the HgTe quantum well, J. Exp. Theor. Phys. 117, 933 (2013).
  6. E. H. Hwang and S. Das Sarma, Temperature dependent resistivity of spin-split subbands in GaAs two-dimensional hole systems, Phys. Rev. B 67, 115316 (2003).
  7. K. E. Nagaev and A. A. Manoshin, Electron-electron scattering and transport properties of spin-orbit coupled electron gas, Phys. Rev. B 102, 155411 (2020).
  8. K. E. Nagaev, Electron-electron scattering and conductivity of disordered systems with a Galilean-invariant spectrum, Phys. Rev. B 106, 085411 (2022).
  9. G. M. Gusev, A. D. Levin, E. B. Olshanetsky, Z. D. Kvon, V. M. Kovalev, M. V. Entin, and N. N. Mikhailov, Interaction-dominated transport in two-dimensional conductors: From degenerate to partially degenerate regime, Phys. Rev. B 109, 035302 (2024).
  10. A. D. Levin, G. M. Gusev, F. G. G. Hernandez, E. B. Olshanetsky, V. M. Kovalev, M. V. Entin, and N. N. Mikhailov, Interaction-controlled transport in a two-dimensional massless-massive Dirac system: Transition from degenerate to nondegenerate regimes, Phys. Rev. Res. 6, 023121 (2024).
  11. V. M. Kovalev, M. V. Entin, Z. D. Kvon, A. D. Levin, V. A. Chitta, G. M. Gusev, and N. N. Mikhailov, Resistivity of non-Galilean invariant two dimensional Dirac system, Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 196303 (2025).
  12. M. König, S. Wiedmann, C. Brune, A. Roth, H. Buhmann, L. W. Molenkamp, X.-L. Qi, and S.-C. Zhang, Quantum spin Hall insulator state in HgTe quantum wells, Science 318, 766 (2007).
  13. A. Roth, C. Brune, H. Buhmann, L. W. Molenkamp, J. Maciejko, X.-L. Qi, and S.-C. Zhang, Nonlocal transport in the quantum spin Hall state, Science 325, 294 (2009)
  14. M. König, H. Buhmann, L. W. Molenkamp, T. Hughes, C.-X. Liu, X.-L. Qi, and S.-C. Zhang, The quantum spin Hall effect: Theory and experiment, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 77, 031007 (2008).
  15. H. Buhmann, The quantum spin Hall effect, J. Appl. Phys. 109, 102409 (2011).
  16. E. B. Olshanetsky, Z. D. Kvon, G. M. Gusev, A. D. Levin, O. E. Raichev, N. N. Mikhailov, and S. A. Dvoretsky, Persistence of a two-dimensional topological insulator state in wide HgTe quantum wells, Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 126802 (2015).
  17. G. Grabecki, J. Wróbel, M. Czapkiewicz, Ł. Cywiński, S. Gierałtowska, E. Guziewicz, M. Zholudev, V. Gavrilenko, N. N. Mikhailov, S. A. Dvoretski, F. Teppe, W. Knap, and T. Dietl, Nonlocal resistance and its fluctuations in microstructures of band-inverted HgTe/(Hg,Cd)Te quantum wells, Phys. Rev. B 88, 165309 (2013).
  18. Z. D. Kvon, E. B. Olshanetsky, D. A. Kozlov et al., Two-dimensional electron-hole system in a HgTe-based quantum well, JETP Lett. 87, 502 (2008).
  19. Z. D. Kvon, E. B. Olshanetsky, E. G. Novik, D. A. Kozlov, N. N. Mikhailov, I. O. Parm, and S. A. Dvoretsky, Two-dimensional electron-hole system in HgTe-based quantum wells with surface orientation (112), Phys. Rev. B 83, 193304 (2011).
  20. E. B. Olshanetsky, Z. D. Kvon, N. N. Mikhailov, E. G. Novik, I. O. Parm, and S. A. Dvoretsky, Two-dimensional semimetal in HgTe-based quantum wells with surface orientation (100), Solid State Commun. 152, 265 (2012).
  21. M. Knap, J. D. Sau, B. I. Halperin, and E. Demler, Transport in two-dimensional disordered semimetals, Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 186801 (2014).
  22. F. J. Blatt, Physics of Electronic Conduction in Solids (McGraw Hill Book Company, 1968).
  23. F. Teppe, M. Marcinkiewicz, S. S. Krishtopenko, S. Ruffenach, C. Consejo, A. M. Kadykov, W. Desrat, D. But, W. Knap, J. Ludwig, S. Moon, D. Smirnov, M. Orlita, Z. Jiang, S. V. Morozov, V. I. Gavrilenko, N. N. Mikhailov, and S. A. Dvoretskii, Temperature-driven massless Kane fermions in HgCdTe crystals, Nat. Commun. 7, 12576 (2016).
  24. M. Marcinkiewicz, S. Ruffenach, S. S. Krishtopenko, A. M. Kadykov, C. Consejo, D. B. But, W. Desrat, W. Knap, J. Torres, A. V. Ikonnikov, K. E. Spirin, S. V. Morozov, V. I. Gavrilenko, N. N. Mikhailov, S. A. Dvoretskii, and F. Teppe, Temperature-driven single-valley Dirac fermions in HgTe quantum wells, Phys. Rev. B 96, 035405 (2017).
  25. S. S. Krishtopenko, I. Yahniuk, D. B. But, V. I. Gavrilenko, W. Knap, and F. Teppe, Pressure- and temperature-driven phase transitions in HgTe quantum wells, Phys. Rev. B 94, 245402 (2016).
  26. T. Khouri, M. Bendias, P. Leubner, C. Brüne, H. Buhmann, L. W. Molenkamp, U. Zeitler, N. E. Hussey, and S. Wiedmann, High-temperature quantum Hall effect in finite gapped HgTe quantum wells, Phys. Rev. B 93, 125308 (2016).
  27. D. A. Kozlov, Z. D. Kvon, N. N. Mikhailov, S. A. Dvoretskii, S. Weishäupl, Y. Krupko, and J.-C. Portal, Quantum Hall effect in HgTe quantum wells at nitrogen temperatures, Appl. Phys. Lett. 105, 132102 (2014).
  28. G. M. Gusev, Z. D. Kvon, E. B. Olshanetsky, and N. N. Mikhailov, Mesoscopic transport in two-dimensional topological insulators, Solid State Commun. 302, 113701 (2019).
  29. A. Kamenev and Yu. Oreg, Coulomb drag in normal metals and superconductors: Diagrammatic approach, Phys. Rev. B 52, 7516 (1995).
  30. D. L. Maslov and A. V. Chubukov, Optical response of correlated electron systems, Rep. Prog. Phys. 80, 026503 (2017).
  31. N. S. Rytova, The screened potential of a point charge in a thin film, Moscow Univ. Phys. Bull. 22, 18 (1967).
  32. A. V. Chaplik and M. V. Entin, Charged impurities in very thin layers, JETP 34, 1335 (1972).
  33. L. V. Keldysh, Coulomb interaction in thin semiconductor and semimetal films, JETP Lett. 29, 658 (1979).
  34. G. M. Gusev, Dataset: Resistance (kΩ) of HgTe quantum well as a Function of Temperature and Gate Voltage, [Data set], Zenodo (2025), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15395992.

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. Research 7, 043169– Published 14 November, 2025
  • Received 13 May 2025
  • Accepted 25 October 2025
Crossmark - Check for updates button
Creative Commons Logo

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation