Fractional features in radiation-induced oscillations of the magnetoresistance of two-dimensional electron systems

The magnetoresistance of two-dimensional electron systems irradiated by microwave radiation is calculated. It exhibits oscillatory features at fractional values of the ratio ω/ωc of the circular frequency of microwave radiation to the cyclotron frequency. The calculation explains existing experimental data by nonequilibrium population of electron states that appears due to one-photon processes and predicts ω/ωc values near which the basic features in magnetoresistance are expected. In the framework of the mechanism under consideration, the fractional features can be observed only in the crossover from strongly overlapping to separate Landau levels and only at radiation frequencies below the threshold frequencies depending on a fractional value.