Alloy disorder scattering limited mobility of two-dimensional electron gas in the quaternary AlInGaN/GaN heterojunctions

Nitride heterojunction field effect transistors (HFETs) with quaternary AlInGaN barrier layers have achieved remarkable successes in recent years based on highly improved mobility of the two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) and greatly changed AlInGaN compositions. To investigate the influence of the AlInGaN composition on the 2DEG mobility, the quaternary alloy disorder (ADO) scattering to 2DEGs in AlInGaN/GaN heterojunctions is modeled using virtual crystal approximation. The calculated mobility as a function of AlInGaN alloy composition is shown to be a triangular-scarf-like curved surface for both cases of fixed thickness of AlInGaN layer and fixed 2DEG density. Though the two mobility surfaces are quite different in shape, both of them manifest the smooth transition of the strength of ADO scattering from quaternary AlInGaN to ternary AlGaN or AlInN. Some useful principles to estimate the mobility change with the Al(In,Ga)N composition in Al(In,Ga)N/GaN heterojunctions with a fixed 2DEG density are given. The comparison between some highest Hall mobility data reported for Al_xGa_1−xN/GaN heterojunctions (x=0.06~0.2) at very low temperature (0.3~13 K) and the calculated 2DEG mobility considering ADO scattering and interface roughness scattering verifies the influence of ADO scattering. Moreover, the room temperature Hall mobility data of Al(In,Ga)N/AlN/GaN heterojunctions with ADO scattering eliminated are summarized from literatures. The data show continuous dependence on Hall electron density but independence of the Al(In,Ga)N composition, which also supports our theoretical results. The feasibility of quaternary AlInGaN barrier layer in high conductivity nitride HFET structures is demonstrated.     

Fingerprints of intrinsic phase separation: magnetically doped two-dimensional electron gas

In addition to Anderson and Mott localization, intrinsic phase separation has long been advocated as the third fundamental mechanism controlling the doping-driven metal-insulator transitions. In electronic system, where charge neutrality precludes global phase separation, it may lead to various inhomogeneous states and dramatically affect transport. Here we theoretically predict the precise experimental signatures of such phase separation-driven metal-insulator transitions. We show that anomalous transport is expected in an intermediate regime around the transition, displaying very strong temperature and magnetic field dependence but very weak density dependence. Our predictions find striking agreement with recent experiments on Mn-doped CdTe quantum wells, a system where we identify the microscopic origin for intrinsic phase separation.     

Indirect interaction of solid-state qubits via two-dimensional electron gas

We propose a mechanism of long-range coherent coupling between nuclear spin qubits in semiconductor-heterojunction quantum information processing devices. The coupling is via localized donor electrons which interact with the two-dimensional electron gas. An effective interaction Hamiltonian is derived and the coupling strength is evaluated. We also discuss mechanisms of decoherence and consider gate control of the interaction between qubits. The resulting quantum computing scheme retains all the control and measurement aspects of earlier approaches, but allows qubit spacing at distances of the order of 100 nm, attainable with the present-day semiconductor device technologies.     

Mobility of two-dimensional electron gas in JFETS limited by polar-optic and impurity scattering

The theory of mobility of a two-dimentional electron gas in JFET structures limited by polar-optic phonon and impurity scattering is developed in this work. The energy level and the wave function of the lowest subband are obtained by a variational procedure. The mobility limited by polar-optic phonon scattering is obtained by solving the Boltzmann equation iteratively. The expression for the impurity scattering limited mobility is obtained by using the variational wave function. For numerical calculation, however, the electron gas is assumed to be strictly two-dimensional. It is found that for experimental range of impurity concentration in GaAs JFETs, impurity scattering is the dominant process even at 300K.     

Periodic magnetic modulation of a two-dimensional electron gas: Transport properties

Electrical transport of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) is considered in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field(B) which is modulated weakly and periodically along one direction by −B₀sin(Kx). The magnetoresistivity exhibits novel oscillations which: 1) are 90° shifted with respect to similar oscillations discovered for a 1D electrical periodic potential, and 2) their amplitude is an order of magnitude larger than for a corresponding electrical potential modulation with strength equal to .     

Dynamical exchange effects in the dielectric function of the two-dimensional electron gas

Dynamical exchange interactions can be introduced in the dielectric function via a dynamic local field factor. We study the effects of this inclusion on both the static and the frequency dependent dielectric function of a two-dimensional electron gas, using the dynamic local field factor that we derived recently via the dynamical exchange decoupling method. The results are compared with the dielectric function in the Random Phase Approximation and with different dynamic and static approximations of the local field factor.Received: 7 May 2003, Published online: 22 September 2003PACS: 71.45.Gm Exchange, correlation, dielectric and magnetic response functions, plasmons - 77.22.Ch Permittivity (dielectric function) - 77.55.+f Dielectric thin filmsJ.T. Devreese: , jtd@uia.ua.ac.be     

Wigner function of a two-dimensional electron gas in a magnetic field

The Wigner function of a two-dimensional electron gas in an arbitrary magnetic field perpendicular to the plane in which the electrons are confined is constructed rigorously. The function is useful in taking various statistical averages and illuminates the roles played by the hyperbolic functions of the field which appear in the expressions of the susceptibility and other physical quantities.     

Dynamical exchange corrections to the dielectric function in a two-dimensional electron gas

The effect of dynamical exchange interactions on the dielectric function of a two-dimensional electron gas is studied using a variational approach. Exchange effects are introduced via the local-field correction. The variationally obtained local-field factor is compared to the earlier perturbative result to first order in the electron-electron interaction.     

Dynamical exchange corrections to the dielectric function in a two-dimensional electron gas

The effect of dynamical exchange interactions on the dielectric function of a two-dimensional electron gas is studied using a variational approach. Exchange effects are introduced via the local-field correction. The variationally obtained local-field factor is compared to the earlier perturbative result to first order in the electron-electron interaction.     

Realization of a spin-polarized two-dimensional electron gas via image-potential-induced surface states

Electrons in image-potential-induced surface states form a two-dimensional electron gas in front of the surfaces. In the case of ferromagnets, their binding energies as well as lifetimes depend on the orientation of their spin magnetic moment with respect to the magnetization direction. Various experiments with inverse photoemission and two-photon photoemission to detect the spin dependence of image states are reviewed. A new and successful approach to achieve and detect a spin-polarized two-dimensional electron gas is presented, namely polarization-dependent and spin-resolved two-photon photoemission. Additional time resolution opens the way to study spin-dependent electron dynamics.     

Magneto-excitations in the rotating two-dimensional electron gas

Summary The effects of a rigid rotation on the two-dimensional electron gas are studied. For very large wavelengths the lower branch of magneto-excitations has the dispersion relationE_(k)≈[ℏΓ (ℏΓ+ve ²|k|)]^1/2 , wherev is the filling factor and Γ the angular speed of rotation. The result holds independently of the presence of a solid phase (Wigner lattice) on the gas.

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Riassunto Si studiano gli effetti di una rotazione rigida su un gas di elettroni bidimensionale. Per lunghezze d'onda molto ampie, il ramo piú basso delle eccitazioni magnetiche ha la relazione di dispersioneE_(k)≈[ℏΓ (ℏΓ+ve ²|k|)]^1/2 dovev è il fattore di riempimento e Γ la velocità angolare di rotazione. Il risultato vale indipendentemente dalla presenza di una fase solida (reticolo di Wigner) nel gas.

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Резюме Исследуется влияние жесткого вращения на двумерный электронный газ. Для очень больших длин волн низшая ветвь магнитных возбуждений имеет дисперсионное соотношениеE_(k)≈[ℏΓ (ℏΓ+ve ²|k|)]^1/2, гдеv-фактор заполнения и Γ-угловая скорость врашения. Полученный результат оказывается справедлив в присутствии твердой фазы (решетка Вигнера).

     

Negative photoconductivity of selectively doped SiGe/Si: B heterostructures with a two-dimensional hole gas in the middle-infrared range

The spectra of lateral photoconductivity in selectively doped SiGe/Si: B heterostructures with a two-dimensional hole gas are analyzed. It is revealed that the lateral photoconductivity spectra of these heterostructures exhibit two signals opposite in sign. The positive signal of the photoconductivity is associated with the impurity photoconductivity in silicon layers of the heterostructures. The negative signal of the photoconductivity is assigned to the transitions of holes from the SiGe quantum well to long-lived states in silicon barriers. The position of the negative photoconductivity signal depends on the composition of the quantum well, and the energy of the low-frequency edge of this signal is in close agreement with the calculated band offset between the quantum-confinement level of holes in the quantum well and the valence band edge in the barrier.     

Width of the quasiparticle spectral function in a two-dimensional electron gas with spin-orbit interaction

The results of an investigation of the width of the electron and hole spectral functions in an isotropic electron gas with the Rashba spin-orbit interaction as a function of the wave vector within the G ⁰ W ⁰ approximation are reported. This kind of electron gas is used to simulate two-dimensional systems formed by electrons in In _x Ga_{1 − x} As layers of various heterostructures and by surface electron states on Au(111). It is demonstrated how the width of the spectral function changes as a result of the spin-orbit interaction and how it depends on the branch index of the energy spectrum split by this interaction.     

Spin-plasmon oscillations of the two-dimensional electron gas

Interaction of the spins of 2D electrons with an alternating electric field in the plane of the system is considered. It is assumed that the double spin degeneracy is eliminated by the spin-orbit splitting. It is shown that transitions between different spin states produce a narrow absorption band in the degenerate electron gas. In the frequency domain corresponding to these transitions, those frequencies are combined with two-dimensional plasmons; as a result, the plasmon spectrum is modified, and a new type of oscillations occurs, namely, a spin-plasmon polariton. The dispersion law of these oscillations is derived. The problem of the excitation of spin-plasmon polaritons by an external electromagnetic field is solved.