Coupled molecular-dynamics Monte Carlo study of the transport properties of lateral surface superlattices

The transport properties of a lateral surface superlattice, a two-dimensional (2D) electron system in a 2D periodic potential, are studied with a molecular-dynamics Monte Carlo technique including the Coulomb interaction. Excellent numerical energy conservation is achieved by adopting a predictor-corrector algorithm to integrate the equations of motion. With increasing 2D potential amplitude, electrons show a transition, from a mobile phase to an immobile phase, where the radial distribution function has some characteristic peaks, indicating the beginning of the long-range ordering of the electrons in the potential minima. The velocity autocorrelation function shows a 2D plasma oscillation in the mobile phase, while in the immobile phase the classical oscillation at the bottom of the potential well is observed. Raising the temperature improves the transport since electrons are released from the constraint of the 2D potential and the Coulomb potential.