Response of the two-dimensional electron gas of AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures to parallel magnetic field

We study the transport properties of the two-dimensional electron gas in AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures in parallel to the interface magnetic fields at low temperatures. The magnetoresistance in the metallic phase is found to be positive and weakly anisotropic with respect to the orientation of the in-plane magnetic field and the current through the sample. At low electron densities ($n_s<5\times {10}^{10}$ cm${}^{-2}$) the experimental data can be described adequately within spin-related approach while at high $n_s$ the magnetoresistance mechanism changes as inferred from $n_s$-independence of the normalized magnetoresistance.