Diffusion Monte Carlo Study of Electrons in Two-dimensional Layers

We investigate the phase diagram of electrons in two dimensions at T = 0 by means of accurate diffusion Monte Carlo simulations within the fixed-node approximation. At variance with previous studies, we find that in an isolated layer Slater-Jastrow nodes yield stability of the fully polarised fluid at intermediate coupling, before freezing into a triangular crystal sets in. We have also studied coupled layers of electrons and of electrons and holes. Preliminary results show that at large coupling, as two layers are brought together from infinity, inter-layer correlation first stabilises the crystalline phase at distances of the order of the in-plane inter-particle spacing. As the distance is further decreased the effect of correlation, as expected, turns into an enhanced screening, which disrupts the crystalline order in favour of liquid phases.