Microwave induced magnetoresistance oscillations at the subharmonics of the cyclotron resonance

15 December 2007

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The magnetoresistance oscillations that occur in a two-dimensional electron system exposed to strong microwave radiation when the microwave frequency omega coincides with the nth subliarmonic of the cyclotron frequency omega(c) have been investigated for n = 2, 3, and 4. It is shown that these subliarmonic features can be explained within a nonequilibrium energy distribution function picture without invoking multiphoton absorption processes. The existence of a frequency threshold above which such oscillations disappear lends further support to this explanation.