  When interacting two-dimensional electrons are placed in a large
perpendicular magnetic field, to minimize their energy, they capture an even
number of flux quanta and create new particles called composite fermions (CFs).
These complex electron-flux-bound states offer an elegant explanation for the
fractional quantum Hall effect. Furthermore, thanks to the flux attachment, the
effective field vanishes at a half-filled Landau level and CFs exhibit
Fermi-liquid-like properties, similar to their zero-field electron
counterparts. However, being solely influenced by interactions, CFs should
possess no memory whatever of the electron parameters. Here we address a
fundamental question: Does an anisotropy of the electron effective mass and
Fermi surface (FS) survive composite fermionization? We measure the resistance
of CFs in AlAs quantum wells where electrons occupy an elliptical FS with large
eccentricity and anisotropic effective mass. Similar to their electron
counterparts, CFs also exhibit anisotropic transport, suggesting an anisotropy
of CF effective mass and FS.
