Due to strong interlayer correlations, the bilayer quantum Hall system is a single coherent system as a whole rather than a weakly coupled set of two independent systems, which makes conventional tunneling theories inapplicable. In this paper, we develop a theory of interlayer tunneling in coherent exciton condensates of bilayer quantum Hall systems at total filling factor ${\nu }_T=1$. One of the most important consequences of our theory is that the zero-bias interlayer tunneling conductance peak is strongly enhanced, but fundamentally finite even at zero temperature. We explicitly compute the height of the conductance peak as a function of interlayer distance, which is compared with experiment. It is emphasized that the interlayer distance dependence of the conductance peak is one of the key properties distinguishing between the spontaneous coherence due to many-body effects of the Coulomb interaction and the induced coherence due to the single-particle tunneling gap. It is also emphasized that, though the strongly enhanced tunneling conductance originates from the interlayer phase coherence, it is not the usual Josephson effect. We propose an experimental setup for the true Josephson effect in counterflowing current measurements for a coupled set of two bilayer quantum Hall systems, which is a more precise analogy with the real Josephson effect in superconductivity.

• Received 28 February 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.74.035338