Mid/far-infrared photo-detectors based on graphene asymmetric quantum wells

We conducted a theoretical study on the electronic properties of a single-layer graphene asymmetric quantum well.Quantification of energy levels is limited by electron–hole conversion at the barrier interfaces and free-electron continuum.Electron–hole conversion at the barrier interfaces can be controlled by introducing an asymmetry between barriers and taking into account the effect of the interactions of the graphene sheet with the substrate.The interaction with the substrate induces an effective mass to carriers,allowing observation of Fabry–P′erot resonances under normal incidence and extinction of Klein tunneling.The asymmetry,between barriers creates a transmission gap between confined states and free-electron continuum,allowing the large graphene asymmetric quantum well to be exploited as a photo-detector operating at mid-and far-infrared frequency regimes.     

Quantum oscillations and wave packet revival in conical graphene structure

We present analytical expressions for the eigenstates and eigenvalues of electronsconfined in a graphene monolayer in which the crystal symmetry is locally modified byreplacing a hexagon by a pentagon, square or heptagon. The calculations are performed inthe continuum limit approximation in the vicinity of the Dirac points, solving Diracequation by freezing out the carrier radial motion. We include the effect of an externalmagnetic field and show the appearance of Aharonov-Bohm oscillations and find out theconditions of gapped and gapless states in the spectrum. We show that the gauge field dueto a disclination lifts the orbital degeneracy originating from the existence of twovalleys. The broken valley degeneracy has a clear signature on quantum oscillations andwave packet dynamics.     

Tunneling conductivity oscillations in a magnetic field in metal-insulator-narrow-gap-HgCdTe structures: The energy spectrum and spin-orbit splitting of 2D states

We study tunneling conductivity oscillations in a magnetic field in narrow-gap p-HgCdTe-oxide-metal (Yb, Al) structures. In tunnel structures with Yb we detect two types of tunneling conductivity oscillations. The first is related to the crossing of the Landau levels of two-dimensional (2D) states localized in the surface quantum well of the semiconductor, and has an energy E _F+eV, where E _F is the Fermi energy of the semiconductor and V is the bias voltage; the second has an energy E _F. We find that in such structures with an asymmetric quantum well there is strong spin-orbit splitting in the spectrum of the 2D states. In p-HgCdTe-oxide-Al tunnel structures the surface potential is much weaker and only oscillations of the first type are observed. We find that in such structures there is only one spin state of the 2D carriers, while the second is pushed into the continuous spectrum because of strong spin-orbit coupling. To analyze the experimental results we calculate the spectrum of 2D states localized in the surface quantum well in a semiconductor with a Kane dispersion law. We find that all the experimental results are in good agreement with the results of calculations. Finally, we discuss the features of “kinematically coupled” states in an asymmetric quantum well. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 112, 537–550 (August 1997)     

Ballistic effects and intersubband excitations in multiple quantum well structures

We have studied the transport properties of electrons in asymmetric quantum well structures upon far-infrared optical excitation of carriers from the lowest subband into the continuum. Here the photocurrent consists of a coherent component originating from ballistic transport upon excitation, and of an incoherent part associated with asymmetric diffusion and relaxation processes, which occur after the coherence has been lost. The signature of the coherent contribution is provided by a sign reversal of the photocurrent upon changing the excitation energy. This sign reversal arises from the energy-dependent interference between continuum states, which have a twofold degeneracy characterized by positive and negative momenta. The interference effect also allows us to estimate the coherent mean free path ( nm at 77 K). In specifically designed device structures, we use both the coherent and incoherent components in order to achieve a pronounced photovoltaic infrared response for detector applications.     

Effect of quantum entanglement on Aharonov-Bohm oscillations, spin-polarized transport and current magnification effect

We present a simple model of transmission across a metallic mesoscopic ring. In one of its arm an electron interacts with a single magnetic impurity via an exchange coupling. We show that entanglement between electron and spin impurity states leads to reduction of Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in the transmission coefficient. The spin-conductance is asymmetric in the flux reversal as opposed to the two-probe electrical conductance which is symmetric. In the same model, in contradiction to the naive expectation of a current magnification effect, we observe enhancement as well as suppression of this effect depending on the system parameters. The limitations of this model to the general notion of dephasing or decoherence in quantum systems are pointed out.     

High-field franz-keldysh effect and exciton ionization in semiconductor quantum wires

We investigate the Franz-Keldysh effect and exciton ionization in semiconductor quantum wires. Absorption spectra are calculated near the band gap by solution of the low-density semiconductor Bloch equations in real space. The Sommerfeld factor and field-induced tunnel ionization of the exciton significantly affect the continuum portion of the absorption spectrum and remove the well known divergence problem associated with the 1D density of states at all field strengths. For reasonable electric field strengths substantial and tunable absorption oscillations appear above the band gap. Moreover, for very large fields, transparency can be achieved in the continuum for certain spectral positions.     

含有AlGaAs插入层的InAs/GaAs三色量子点红外探测器

本文报道了采用分子束外延技术制备的三色InAs/GaAs量子点红外探测器. 器件采用nin型结构, 吸收区结构是在InGaAs量子阱中生长含有AlGaAs插入层的InAs量子点, 器件在77 K下的红外光电流谱有三个峰值: 6.3, 10.2和11 μm. 文中分析了它们的跃迁机制, 并且分别进行了指认. 因为有源区采用了不对称结构, 所以器件在外加偏压正负方向不同时, 光电流谱峰值的强度存在一些差异. 不论在正偏压或者负偏压下, 当偏压达到较高值, 再进一步增大偏压时, 都出现了对应于连续态的跃迁峰强度明显下降的现象, 这是由量子点基态与阱外连续态的波函数交叠随着偏压进一步增大而迅速减小导致的.     

PROPERTIES OF PROPAGATION OF GUIDED ELECTRON WAVES IN COUPLED ASYMMETRIC QUANTUM WELLS

In this article we investigate the properties of the propagation of guided electron waves in the coupled asymmetric quantum wells. By decomposing the eigenfunctions of electron in the coupled double quantum wells in terms of the basis eigenfunctions of the individual wells, the expression of the mode amplitude func-tions for various bare states in wells has been given. By setting up appropriate boundary conditions one can simulate different injecting manners of electron into the system and study how the electron waves trans-fer among various states. The major electron wave transfer happens between the matching bare states in wells. The particular pattern of the transfer depends on the injecting manner and the energy of the inci-dent electron. We also show the influence of the presence of the multimodes on the variatinn of the mode amplitude functions. It leads to producing some oscillations imposed on the original sinusoidal-like func-tions and causing incomplete transfer between a pair of states in channels due to the beating frequency effect or the interference among various modes.     

Donor states in tunnel-coupled quantum wells

We study the energy spectrum of the impurity states in tunnel-coupled double quantum wells for Coulomb and short-range donor potentials. We calculate the impurity contribution and the density of states and detect the transformation of a localized donor state into a resonant state when the binding energy of the donor in an isolated quantum well is less than the separation of the energy levels of the double quantum wells. In the opposite case, where the binding energy is greater than the level separation, there is tunneling repulsion between adjacent impurity levels, with the degree of degeneracy of the levels changing when there is tunneling mixing of the ground and excited impurity states from different wells. Resonant states emerge in an asymmetric double quantum well, while in a symmetric double quantum well the impurity level at the barrier’s center proves to be localized even against the background of the continuum. The calculations are based on a general expression for the impurity contribution to the density of states in terms of a 2-by-2 matrix Green’s function, i.e., only a pair of tunnel-coupled levels of the double quantum wells is taken into account. For an impurity with a short-range potential, we derive a matrix generalization of the Koster-Slater solution, while the impurity with a Coulomb potential is analyzed by using the approximation of a narrow resonance and close arrangement of the repulsive levels. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 115, 1337–1352 (April 1999)     

Trapping of an electron due to molecular vibrations

Here we first show that the nuclear motion of H-2 generates a continuum of autoionization resonance states. The interference between them increases the lifetime of the trapped electron in the e(-)/H(2) scattering experiments and leads to asymmetric oscillations in the phase of the excitation probability amplitude. This collective coherent interference resonance phenomenon is very different from any known mechanism in quantum mechanics which reveals the fingerprints of overlapping resonances in scattering cross section and results from the non-Hermitian properties of the H-2 Hamiltonian.     

Quantum conductance through a uniform scatterer in a narrow-wire semiconductor

The quantum conductance for electrons scattering from a uniform scatterer in a narrow-wire semiconductor is calculated. Instead of getting the conductance directly from the calculation of transmission coefficient, we calculate the reflection coefficient instead. The transmission coefficient is then calculated by using the conservation law, T=I−R. This alternative method can avoid the instability of the conductance obtained by including more evanescent modes for a finite-range scatterer in a narrow-wire semiconductor. This method is applied to a semi-infinite strip potential barrier and a rectangular potential barrier in a narrow wire. The quantum stepwise conductance is obtained in both cases. For a repulsive rectangular potential barrier, there are oscillations in each stepwise conductance. For an attractive rectangular potential barrier, there exist multiple quasi-bound states below the sub-band energies which can cause the drop of the quantum conductance. The effect of the continuum quasi-bound states diminishes as the energy of the incident electron increases, but the influence of the discrete quasi-bound states still persists.     

Oscillatory behavior of magneto-optical interband emissions in asymmetric quantum well structures

We report on the oscillatory behavior of the photoluminescence intensity from asymmetric AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs quantum well structures in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field. Two distinct photoluminescence peaks originating from transitions from the ground (e₁) and the first excited (e₂) electronic states to the heavy hole state (hh₁) are observed. The opposite phase of the oscillations shows clearly the competitive process between the transitions from the ground and first excited states. Electron transfer mechanisms cannot explain the origin of these oscillations. The optical oscillations emerge from changes in the effective electron–hole interaction.     

Energy and effective mass of a polaron in asymmetric semiconductor quantum well structures

In this paper, the correct electron extended states wave functions and the density of states in asymmetric single quantum wells (QWs) are given for the first time, we put right mistakes from some previous papers of some other authors. Within the framework of the secondorder perturbation theory, the ground-state polaron binding energy and effective mass correction in asymmetric single QWs are studied including the full energy specturm, i.e., the discrete energy levels in the well and the continuum energy spectrum above the barrier, and all possible optical-phonon modes. The effects of the finite electronic confinement potential and the subband nonparabolicity are considered. The relative importance of the different phonon modes is investigated. Our results show that the polaron energy and effective mass are sensitive to the asymmetry of the structure and have a close relation to the interface phonon dispersion. When well width and one side barrier height of asymmetric QWs are fixed and identical with those of symmetric QW, the polaron binding energy and effective mass in asymmetric QWs are always less than those in symmetric QW. It is necessary to include the continuum energy spectrum as intermediate states in the study of polaron effects in QWs in order to obtain the correct results. The subband non-parabolicity has little influence on the polaron effects. The polaron energies given in this paper are excellent agreement with our variational results.     

Electron-phonon scattering in an asymmetric double barrier resonant tunneling structure

We calculate the electron-phonon scattering rate for an asymmetric double barrier resonant tunneling structure based on dielectric continuum theory, including all phonon modes, and show that interface phonons contribute much more to the scattering rate than do bulk-like LO phonons for incident energies which are approximately within an order of magnitude of the Fermi energy. The maximum scattering rate occurs for incident electron energies near the quantum well resonance. Subband nonparabolicity has a significant influence on electron-phonon scattering in these structures. We show that the relaxation time is comparable to the dwell time of electrons in the quantum well for a typical resonant tunneling structure. Received: 23 December 1997 / Revised: 24 March 1998 / Accepted: 9 March 1998     

Oscillatory spin polarization and magneto-optical Kerr effect in Fe₃O₄ thin films on GaAs(001)

The spin dependent properties of epitaxial Fe?O? thin films on GaAs(001) are studied by the ferromagnetic proximity polarization (FPP) effect and magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE). Both FPP and MOKE show oscillations with respect to Fe?O? film thickness, and the oscillations are large enough to induce repeated sign reversals. We attribute the oscillatory behavior to spin-polarized quantum well states forming in the Fe?O? film. Quantum confinement of the t(2g) states near the Fermi level provides an explanation for the similar thickness dependences of the FPP and MOKE oscillations.     

Local flattening of the Fermi surface and quantum oscillations in the magnetoacoustic response of a metal

In the present work, we theoretically analyze the effect of the Fermi surface local geometry on quantum oscillations in the velocity of an acoustic wave travelling in metal across a strong magnetic field. We show that local flattenings of the Fermi surface could cause significant amplification of quantum oscillations. This occurs due to enhancement of commensurability oscillations modulating the quantum oscillations in the electron density of states on the Fermi surface. The amplification in the quantum oscillations could be revealed at fitting directions of the magnetic field.     

Topological Kinks in φ2n Field Theories and Low Energy Excited States

The static kinks and their low energy excited states in scalar field theories with V[φ]= -(1/2)m²φ² + gφ²ⁿ/2n are studied in a function-series method. We give a universal formal solution, and a universal approach to find the low energy excited states as well. Excellent agreement between the FS solution and the exact answer is found. This confirms our predicted results of the energies of the excited quantum states by considering small oscillations about the kink motion.     

Influence of quantum well states on transport properties of double barrier junctions

A strong asymmetric behavior in the I–V characteristics and the tunnel magnetoresistance in asymmetric magnetic double-barrier junctions is predicted. This effect relates to formation of quantum well states in the middle metallic layer. The influence of the random fluctuations of the barrier and the middle metallic layer thickness on the statistics of resonant levels is investigated.     

Phonon effect on two coupled quantum dots at finite temperature

The quantum oscillations of population in an asymmetric double quantum dots system coupled to a phonon bath are investigated theoretically. It is shown how the environmental temperature has effect on the system.