A quasi-classical mechanism for microwave induced resistance oscillations in high mobility GaAs/AlGaAs 2DEG samples

In this work we investigate microwave induced resistance oscillations (MIROs) in a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure containing a high mobility two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). We show that MIROs can be explained within a purely classical mechanism based on the Boltzmann equation [L.I. Magarill, I.A. Panaev, S.A. Studenikin, Condens. Matter 7 (1995) 1101]. The MIRO-related transitions can be observed in absorption and we demonstrate it experimentally for the first time using EPR-cavity absorption technique. Next we investigate MIROs and Shubnikov–de Haas (SdH) oscillations at milli-Kelvin temperatures. We find that MIROs persist to approximately three times lower magnetic field as compared with the SdH oscillations, which at temperatures below 50 mK are defined purely by the quantum relaxation time. This finding indicates a possible quasi-classical origin of MIROs.