MAGNETIC-FIELD-INDUCED MOTT TRANSITION OF A ONE-COMPONENT ELECTRON-PLASMA IN GAAS QUANTUM-WELLS

We have measured the time-resolved magneto-photoluminescence of mixed type GaAs/AlAs quantum wells, in which the electron density can be var ied from similar to 10(9) to similar to 10(11) cm(-2). We confirm that as the electron density is increased the precursor of the Mott transi tion is the trion (negatively charged exciton) and that the transition occurs when the Landau level filling factor nu = 2. In zero held the transition is broad and ill-defined, but in a held it is sharp and is accompanied by an abrupt change in linewidth and radiative lifetime. ( C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.