Electrical properties of a two-dimensional electron gas under a general one-dimensional periodic magnetic field

We have given a detailed investigation of the energy spectrum and the electrical properties of a two-dimensional electron gas modulated by a general form of one-dimensional periodic magnetic field along the x direction, by generalizing the theory of Peeters and Vasilopoulos and that of Xue and Xiao on the magnetic modulation in the lowest order of approximation of Fourier transformation. The presence of the magnetic modulation lifts the degeneracy of the Landau levels, which are broadened into bands, and leads to Weiss-like oscillations in the magnetoresistance. The oscillations in p(xx) (and the modulation correction Delta p(xx)) and p(yy) (and Delta P-yy) are out of phase, while Delta p(xy) oscillates in phase with Delta p(xx). The amplitude of oscillation of the modulation correction Delta p(xx) is much larger than those of Delta P-yy and Delta P-xy. We also find the surprising result that, while the Hall resistance displays quantized plateaux, the transport across the magnetic barriers can be nearly dissipationless. The contribution of high-frequency components of Fourier transformation is obvious at high fields and is negligible at low fields.