Fine structure of localized exciton levels in quantum wells

A theory is constructed for the long-range exchange and retarding interactions between an electron and a hole in a quantum well. A method is developed that makes it possible to calculate the ground and excited states of an exciton localized as a whole on a width fluctuation of a quantum well in the form of a rectangular island. It is shown that taking into account the electron-hole interaction mechanisms considered here causes the radiation doublet of the exciton to split into two components polarized along the sides of the rectangle. The dependence of the magnitude and sign of this splitting on the linear dimensions of the island and the level number of the localized exciton are analyzed. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 113, 703–714 (February 1998)     

Mixing of bound states with electron transport by a radiation field in waveguides

Electron transmission in the two-, three-, and four-terminal nanostructures is considered under the influence of a radiation field. The frequency of the radiation field is tuned to the transition between the energy of a bound state and the Fermi energy of the incident electrons. The radiation induced resonant peaks and dips of the electron transport are exhibited for zero and low magnetic fields. It is shown that rotation of the radiation field polarization can effectively control the electron transport into different electrodes attached to the structures because of the symmetry of the structures. The resonant anomalies of the Hall resistance are found in a weak magnetic field. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 114, 1954–1970 (December 1998) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Reproduced here with stylistic changes by the Translation Editor.     

Intraband population inversion and amplification of IR radiation through charge-carrier injection into quantum wells and quantum dots

A mechanism is proposed for obtaining intraband population inversion of electrons in size-quantization levels through the injection of electron-hole pairs into the i region of a heterostructure with quantum wells or quantum dots. Key elements of the mechanism are the simultaneous generation of interband (hv≈E _g ) near-IR radiation and the presence of a “metastable” level. In quantum wells such a level can be produced by making use of the weak overlap of the wave functions of electrons in the levels of a quantum well of complicated configuration and exploiting the characteristic features of the interaction of electrons with optical phonons in polar semiconductors. In quantum dots such a level forms as a result of the phonon bottleneck effect. Estimates are made of the gain for mid-IR radiation in intraband optical transitions of electrons. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 68, No. 5, 392–399 (10 September 1998)     

Spatial correlation of an electron and hole in quasi-two-dimensional electronic system in a strong magnetic field and its relationship to the light-scattering tensor

The spatial correlation of light-generated electrons and holes in a quasi-two-dimensional electron gas in a strong magnetic field is investigated in an approximation linear in the intensity of the exciting light. The correlation is due to the interaction of the electrons and holes with longitudinal optical (LO) phonons. The theory permits calculating, on the basis of a special diagrammatic technique, two distribution functions of an electron-hole pair with respect to the distance between the electron and the hole after the emission of N phonons: first, the function determining the total number of pairs which have emitted N phonons and, second, the function related to the rank-4 light-scattering tensor in interband resonance Raman scattering of light. A special feature of the system is that the electron and hole energy levels are discrete. The calculation is performed for a square quantum well with infinitely high barriers. The distribution function and the total number of electron-hole pairs before the emission of phonons as well as the distribution function corresponding to two-phonon resonance Raman scattering are calculated. The theory predicts the appearance of several close-lying peaks in the excitation spectrum under resonance conditions. The number of peaks is related to the number of the Landau level participating in the optical transition. The distance between peaks is determined by the electron-phonon coupling constant. Far from resonance there is one peak, which is much weaker than the peaks obtained under resonance conditions. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 111, 2194–2214 (June 1997)     

First experiments on field photodesorption IR spectroscopy

The ion current of adsorbed water molecules is studied experimentally as a function of the frequency of near-IR radiation incident on a surface at frequencies in the intrinsic vibrational bands of the water molecule. The ions are produced by nonequilibrium field surface ionization. The observed band (near one of the combination frequencies) has a width of 100 cm⁻¹ and is shifted relative to the free molecular band by 130 cm⁻¹. Estimates show that the cross section for absorption of the radiation by the adsorbed molecules is 3–4 orders of magnitude larger than for free molecules, as is typical of surface processes. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 123–127 (September 1999)     

Photosensitivity of GaAs: NGaP: N/GaAs (GaP) heterojunctions in linearly polarized radiation

Results are presented of investigations of the photoelectric properties of nitrided layer/GaAs (GaP) heterojunctions prepared by plasma treatment of GaAs and GaP crystals in the presence of nitrogen ions. The heterojunctions exhibited broad-band photosensitivity relative to the intensity of the natural radiation. It was established that when linearly polarized radiation is obliquely incident on the surface of nitrided layers, polarization photosensitivity occurs which is controlled by the angle of incidence Θ and increases proportionately as Θ². The spectral dependences of the induced photopleochroism are attributed to the antireflecting properties of the wide-gap layers. Nitrided-layer heterojunctions can be used as broad-band photoanalyzers for linearly polarized radiation. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 138–142 (June 1999)     

Phonon and electron-hole plasma effects on binding energies of excitons in wurtzite GaN/In<Subscript>x</Subscript>Ga<Subscript>1−x</Subscript>N quantum wells

The binding energy of an exciton screened by the electron-hole plasma in a wurtzite GaN/In _x Ga_1−x N quantum well (in the case of 0.1 < x < 1 within which the interface phonon modes play a dominant role) is calculated including the exciton-phonon interaction by a variational method combined with a self-consistent procedure. The coupling between the exciton and various longitudinal-like optical phonon modes is considered to demonstrate the polaronic effect which strongly depends on the exciton wave function. All of the built-in electric field, the exciton-phonon interaction and the electron-hole plasma weaken the Coulomb coupling between an electron and a hole to reduce the binding energy since the former separates the wave functions of the electron and hole in the z direction and the later two enlarge the exciton Bohr radius. The electron-hole plasma not only restrains the built-in electric field, but also reduces the polaronic effect to the binding energy.     

Interaction of radiation and a relativistic electron in motion in a constant magnetic field

This paper examines the effect of multiple photon emission on the quantum mechanical state of an electron emitting synchrotron radiation and on the intensity of that radiation. Calculations are done with a variant of perturbation theory based on the use of extended coherent states. A general formula is derived for the number of emitted photons, which allows taking into account their mutual interaction. A model problem is used to demonstrate the absence of the infrared catastrophe in the modified perturbation theory. Finally, the electron density matrix is calculated, and the analysis of this matrix makes it possible to conclude that the degree of the electron’s spatial localization increases with the passage of time if the electron is being accelerated. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 113, 841–864 (March 1998)     

Two-dimensional electron gas in double quantum wells with tilted bands

When a voltage is applied to double quantum wells based on AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures with contact regions (n-i-n structures), a two-dimensional (2D) electron gas appears in one of the quantum wells. Under illumination which generates electron-hole pairs, the photoexcited holes become localized in a neighboring quantum well and recombine radiatively with the 2D electrons (tunneling recombination through the barrier). The appearance, ground-state energy, and density of the degenerate 2D electron gas are determined from the structure of the Landau levels in the luminescence and luminescence excitation spectra as well as from the oscillations of the radiative recombination intensity in a magnetic field with detection directly at the Fermi level. The electron density is regulated by the voltage between the contact regions and increases with the slope of the bands. For a fixed slope of the bands the 2D-electron density has an upper limit determined by the resonance tunneling of electrons into a neighboring quantum well and subsequent direct recombination with photoexcited holes. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 65, No. 11, 840–845 (10 June 1997)     

Balance-equation approach to impact ionization induced by an intense terahertz radiation: Application to InAs/AlSb heterojunctions

We have extended the balance equations to account for conduction-valence interband impact ionization (II) process induced by an intense terahertz (THz) electromagnetic irradiation in semiconductors, and applied them to study the II effect on electron transport and electron-hole pair generation-recombination rate in THz-driven InAs/AlSb heterojunctions (HJ). As many as needed multiphoton channels are self-consistently taken into account for yielding a given accuracy. The time evolution of transport state including THz-radiation-induced II process are monitored in details by an extensive time-dependent analysis. Two different physical stages, the quasi-steady state and the complete steady-state, are clearly identified from the present calculations. Intersubband electron transfer rate and net electron-hole generation rate are derived as functions of the THz radiation strength E _ac for various radiation frequencies from f _ac = 0.42 to 6 THz at lattice temperatures T = 6 K. It's indicated that the THz radiation with a larger E _ac or a lower f _ac, has a stronger effect on electron transport and II process. Qualitative agreement is obtained between the calculated electron-hole generation rate and the available experimental data for InAs/AlSb HJ's at T = 6 K. Received 24 May 2002 / Received in final form 26 August 2002 Published online 31 October 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: jccao8@hotmail.com     

Nonlinear Faraday effect near the fundamental absorption edge in the ferromagnetic semiconductor CdCr2 Se4

A sharp increase of the Faraday rotation with increasing incident radiation power is observed in a band near the fundamental absorption edge of the ferromagnetic semiconductor CdCr₂ Se₄. The magnitude of the effect is a nonmonotonic function of the radiation intensity. The effect is explained by narrowing of an excitonic resonance as a result of screening of the internal electric fields by photoexcited carriers. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 66, No. 6, 409–413 (25 September 1997)     

Interaction of a modulated electron beam with a magnetoactive plasma

Experimental results concerning the interaction of a modulated electron beam with a magnetoactive plasma in the whistler frequency range are reported. It was shown experimentally that when a beam is injected into the plasma, waves can be generated by two possible mechanisms: Cherenkov emission of whistlers by the modulated beam, and transition radiation from the beam injection point. In the case of weak beam currents (N _b/N ₀)≪⁻⁴) the Cherenkov resonance radiation is more than an order of magnitude stronger than the transition radiation; the Cherenkov emission efficiency decreases at high beam currents. The transformation of the distribution function of the beam is investigated for the case of weak beam currents. It is shown that in the case of the Cherenkov interaction with whistlers the beam is retarded and the beam distribution function becomes wider and acquires a plateau region. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 67, No. 6, 378–382 (25 March 1998)     

Resonant optical orientation and alignment of excitons in superlattices

Exciton states in short-period GaAs/AlGaAs superlattices have been studied by optical orientation and optical dipole-moment alignment methods. The effect of magnetic field in the Faraday and Voigt geometries on the degree of linear and circular polarization of photoluminescence have been studied under resonant and nonresonant excitation. The constants of electron-hole exchange interaction in the exciton have been determined. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 2229–2235 (December 1998)     

Radio-frequency modulation of the reflection of light in semiconductor heterostructures

A contact-free method of modulation spectroscopy of semiconductor heterostructures is developed. The method employs the effect of an intensity-modulated rf or microwave field on the reflection of the probe light and makes it possible to investigate electron-hole interaction effects in different layers of a heterostructure. A model is proposed which explains the characteristic features of the rf-modulated optical reflection spectra observed on selectively doped GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures is proposed. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 67, No. 3, 217–221 (10 February 1998)     

Pure nuclear resonant scattering of synchrotron radiation by a multilayer structure: Theoretical analysis for 169Tm

The possibility of observing pure nuclear resonant scattering of synchrotron radiation by a multilayer structure containing the ¹⁶⁹Tm isotope is analyzed theoretically. The main problem is the need to suppress the enormous background of radiation scattered by electrons. Two methods for the destructive interference of a synchrotron radiation beam in reflection at grazing incidence by a layered system containing Tm nuclei in one of the layers are considered, and their efficiency as applied to the conditions of third-generation synchrotron radiation sources, such as in the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), is calculated. An electron scattering suppression efficiency parameter is formulated as the ratio of the integrated nuclear scattering intensity (with a time delay) to the total prompt electron scattering intensity in assigned ranges of angles and energies. In the first method thin films of a special type on a substrate, viz., GIAR films, are used. In the second method a new effect, which is termed the Bragg antipeak effect and involves the destructive interference of a wave that is Bragg-diffracted in a multilayer superlattice and a wave reflected on the upper boundary of the sample, is employed. The physical properties of the Bragg antipeak effect are considered, and it is found that its efficiency is sufficient for practical use. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 114, 3–22 (July 1998)     

Dynamics of excitonic states in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

The influence of photoexcited carriers on the dynamics of the absorption spectra of GaAs/Al_xGa_1−2x As multilayer quantum wells is investigated experimentally. It is found that at quasiparticle densities all the way up to 10¹¹ cm⁻² the saturation of the excitonic absorption is due to both a decrease of oscillator strength and broadening of the excitonic lines. It is shown that in the case of femtosecond resonance laser exci-tation the decrease of oscillator strength is due to free electron-hole pairs, while the broadening and energy shift of the excitonic lines are due to the exciton-exciton interaction. The lifetimes of free electron-hole pairs and excitons (≈65 ps and ≈410 ps, respectively) are determined from the exponential decrease of the change in the oscillator strength and in the width and energy position of the excitonic lines. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 66, No. 3, 139–144 (10 August 1997)     

Calculation of the characteristics of the radiation from a generator with a virtual cathode

A three-dimensional computer model, described by a system of Maxwell-Vlasov equations, for the interaction of a plasma with the electromagnetic field was used to calculate the excitation of a field by a relativistic electron beam with a virtual cathode oscillating in a resonance chamber. The characteristics of the generator radiation are investigated. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 87–92 (February 1999)     

Fano-type features in magnetoabsorption in semiconductors

It is shown that bulk semiconductors exhibit strongly asymmetric Fano-type resonance profiles in magnetoabsorption processes involving the formation of hot electron-hole pairs (EHPs) and accompanied by the scattering of the EHPs by defects. This result is valid for transitions to electronic states with large Landau quantum numbers, when the Coulomb interaction plays a small role. The physical reason for such a sharp change in the magnetoabsorption coefficient as compared with the expected result for the ordinary density of states in a quantizing magnetic field is that the electronic excitations are quasi-one-dimensional. The form of the resonance absorption is in good qualitative agreement with the experimental data. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 63, No. 8, 619–622 (25 April 1996)     

Formation of amorphous carbon on melting of microcrystalline graphite by picosecond laser pulses

Observations of microcrystalline graphite subjected to picosecond laser pulses reveal the formation of a liquid phase with a subsequent transition to a uniform amorphous state of a surface layer upon solidification. This phenomenon is observed on a definite type of graphite and with the radiation incident on a plane parallel to the sixfold symmetry axis, and only for certain parameters of the laser pulse. A structural analysis of the amorphous phase is performed by electron microscopy and Raman scattering spectroscopy. A periodic structure with a period of the order of the wavelength of the heating pulse is formed in the heating region. The “rulings” of this periodic structure are oriented in the direction of polarization of the heating pulse. A study of the reflection kinetics of the probe laser pulse showed that the characteristic existence time of the liquid phase and of the solidification process is ∼10⁻¹⁰ s. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 66, No. 10, 661–665 (25 November 1997)     

Effect of the coherence of free electron-hole pairs on excitonic absorption in GaAs/AlGaAs superlattices

The effect of photoexcited free carriers on the absorption spectra dynamics of GaAs/Al_xGa_1−x As superlattices is investigated experimentally by the pump-probe method. A sharp change in the shift of the excitonic resonance energy from the low-to the high-energy direction is found to occur at the moment that the electromagnetic radiation of the pump and probe beams overlap in the case of band-band excitation. This phenomenon is explained in a model of scattering of high-energy electron-hole pairs. The dephasing time of free high-energy particles is experimentally estimated to be several tens of femtoseconds. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 67, No. 1, 62–67 (10 January 1998)