Orbital Paramagnetism of Strongly Confined Micron Width 2DEG Strips in the Extreme Quantum Limit

The possibility of orbital paramagnetism in a confined degenerate electron gas arising from surface corrections was pointed out by F.S. Ham over fifty years ago [1]. Several theoretical studies of such surface effects have since been published, including confinement effects in mesoscopic systems [2,3]. Experiments have also revealed the presence of size-dependent orbital paramagnetism [4]. In this work I report the results of calculations on the orbital magnetism of strongly confined micron-width strips of 2DEG systems in the extreme quantum limit. A maximum in orbital paramagnetism is predicted at achievable steady magnetic fields for electron areal densities of 10$^{10}$ cm$^{-2}$. It is suggested that such strips, when configured parallel to each other in a plane, with similar appropriately spaced plane layers, may constitute a novel paramagnetic material. 1. F.S. Ham, Phys. Rev. \underline {92} 1113 (1953) 2. B.L. Altshuler, Y. Gefen, and Y. Imry, Phys. Rev. Lett. \underline {66} 88 (1991) 3. B.L. Altshuler, Y.Gefen, Y.Imry, and G. Montambaux, Phys. Rev.B \underline {47 } 10335 (1993) 4. L.P. Levy, D.H. Reich, L. Pfeiffer, and K. West, Physica B \underline {189 204 (1993).}