Clausius-Clapeyron Relations For First Order Phase Transitions In Bilayer Quantum Hall Systems

Yue Zou, Gil Refael, Ady Stern, J. P. Eisenstein

Published 2009-12-11, updated 2010-05-17Version 2

A bilayer system of two-dimensional electron gases in a perpendicular magnetic field exhibits rich phenomena. At total filling factor $\nu_{tot} = 1$, as one increases the layer separation, the bilayer system goes from an interlayer coherent exciton condensed state to an incoherent phase of, most likely, two decoupled composite-fermion Fermi liquids. Many questions still remain as to the nature of the transition between these two phases. Recent experiments have demonstrated that spin plays an important role in this transition. Assuming that there is a direct first order transition between the spin-polarized interlayer-coherent quantum Hall state and spin-partially-polarized composite Fermi liquid state, we calculate the phase boundary $(d/l)_c$ as a function of parallel magnetic field, NMR/heat pulse, temperature, and density imbalance, and compare with experimental results. Remarkably good agreement is found between theory and various experiments.