Tunnelling between the edges of two lateral quantum Hall systems

The edge of a two-dimensional electron system in a magnetic field consists of one-dimensional channels that arise from the confining electric field at the edge of the system. The crossed electric and magnetic fields cause electrons to drift parallel to the sample boundary, creating a chiral current that travels along the edge in only one direction. In an ideal two-dimensional electron system in the quantum Hall regime, all the current flows along the edge. Quantization of the Hall resistance arises from occupation of N one-dimensional edge channels, each contributing a conductance of e2/h. Here we report differential conductance measurements, in the integer quantum Hall regime, of tunnelling between the edges of a pair of two-dimensional electron systems that are separated by an atomically precise, high-quality, tunnel barrier. The resultant interaction between the edge states leads to the formation of new energy gaps and an intriguing dispersion relation for electrons travelling along the barrier: for example, we see a persistent conductance peak at zero bias voltage and an absence of tunnelling features due to electron spin. These features are unexpected and are not consistent with a model of weakly interacting edge states. Remnant disorder along the barrier and charge screening may each play a role, although detailed numerical studies will be required to elucidate these effects.