Magnetotunnelling spectroscopy: an experimental tool for studying chaos in quantum transport

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Abstract
Resonant tunnelling spectroscopy is used to investigate the energy level spectrum of a wide potential well in the presence of a large magnetic field oriented at angles theta between 0 degrees and 90 degrees to the normal to the plane of the well. In the tilted field geometry, the current-voltage characteristics exhibit a large number of quasiperiodic resonant peaks, even though the classical motion of electrons in the potential well is chaotic. The voltage range and spacing of the resonances both change dramatically with theta . We give a quantitative explanation for this behaviour by considering the classical period of unstable periodic orbits within the chaotic sea of the potential well.