The conductivity in quasi-two-dimensional systems is calculated using the quantum kinetic equation. Linearizing the Lenard-Balescu collision integral with the extension to include external field dependences allows one to calculate the conductivity with diagrams beyond the GW approximation including maximally crossed lines. Consequently the weak localization correction as an interference effect appears here from the field dependence of the collision integral (the latter dependence sometimes called intra-collisional field effect). It is shown that this weak localization correction has the same origin as the Debye-Onsager relaxation effect in plasma physics. The approximation is applied to a system of quasi-two-dimensional electrons in heterojunctions which interact with charged and neutral impurities and the low-temperature correction to the conductivity is calculated analytically. It turns out that the dynamical screening due to charged impurities leads to a linear temperature dependence, while the scattering from neutral impurities leads to the usual Fermi-liquid behavior. By considering an appropriate mass action law to determine the ratio of charged to neutral impurities we can describe the experimental metal-insulator transition at low temperatures as a Mott-Hubbard transition.

• Received 11 October 2002

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.67.115125