Valley Splitting of AlAs Two-Dimensional Electrons in a Perpendicular Magnetic Field

By measuring the angles at which the Landau levels overlap in tilted magnetic fields (the coincidence method), we determine the splitting of the conduction-band valleys in high-mobility two-dimensional electrons confined to AlAs quantum wells. The data reveal that, while the valleys are nearly degenerate in the absence of magnetic field, they split as a function of perpendicular magnetic field. The splitting appears to depend primarily on the magnitude of the perpendicular component of the magnetic field, suggesting electron-electron interaction as its origin.