Nonlinear current density in a compositional semiconductor superlattice under crossed electric and magnetic fields
Abstract
The dc electrical transport in a compositional semiconductor superlattice subjected to a crossed electric field and magnetic field, is studied theoretically. The electron - optical phonon interaction is taken into account at high temperature and strong magnetic field. We obtain the expression for nonlinear current density involving external (electric and magnetic) fields and characteristic parameters of the superlattice. The analytical result is numerically evaluating and graphed for GaAs/Al0.3Ga0.7As superlattice. The intra- and inter-subband magnetophonon resonance effect is observed when the dc electric field is absent. Resonance peaks shift to higher cyclotron energy region when the dc electric field is switched on. The current density increases linearly with small value region and nonlinearly with large value region of the dc electric field.References
Van Vliet K M, Linear response theory revisited. I. The many-body van Hove limit, J. Math. Phys., Vol. 19, (1978 ), 1345 - 1370.
Van Vliet K M, Linear response theory revisited. II. The master equation approach, J. Math. Phys., Vol. 20, (1979), 2573 - 2595.
Charbonneau M, Van Vliet K M and Vasilopoulos P, Linear response theory revisited III: One-body response formulas and generalized Boltzmann equations, J. Math. Phys., Vol. 23, (1982), 318 - 336.
Vasilopoulos P and Van Vliet K M, Linear response theory revisited. IV. Applications, J. Math. Phys., Vol. 25, (1984), 1391 - 1403.
Vasilopoulos P, Finite temperature aspects of the quantum Hall effect: A Boltmann-equation approach, Phys. Rev. B, Vol. 32, (1985), 771 - 776.
Chaubey M P and Van Vliet K M, Transverse magnetoconductivity of quasi-two-dimensional semiconductor layers in the presence of phonon scattering, Phys. Rev. B, Vol. 33, (1986), 5617 - 5622.
Vasilopoulos P, Magnetophonon resonance in quasi-two-dimensional quantum wells, Phys. Rev. B, Vol. 33, (1986), 8587 - 8594.
Vasilopoulos P, Integral quantum Hall effect in superlattices, Phys. Rev. B, Vol. 34, (1986), 3019 - 3022.
Vasilopoulos P, Charbonneau M and Van Vliet C M, Linear and nonlinear electrical conduction in quasi-two-dimensional quantum wells, Phys. Rev. B, Vol. 35, (1987), 1334 - 1344.
Hoi B D, Phong T C, Nonlinear current density in quantum wells with parabolic potential under crossed electric and magnetic fields, Int. J. Comput. Mater. Sci. Engin., Vol. 1, (2012), 1250021 (11 pages).
Gurevich V L and Firsov Y A, On the theory of the electrical conductivity of semiconductors in a magnetic field. I, Soviet Physics JETP-USSR, Vol. 13, (1961), 137 - 146.
Puri S M and Geballe T H, Bulletin of the American Physical Society, Vol. 8, (1963) 309.
Firsov Y A, Gurevich V L, Parfeniev R V, and Shalyt S S, Investigation of a new type of oscillations in the magnetoresistance, Phys. Rev. Lett., Vol. 12, (1964), 660 - 662.
Tsui D C, Englert T, Cho A Y and Gossard A C, Observation of magnetophonon resonances in a two-dimensional electron system, Phys. Rev. Lett., Vol. 44 , (1980), 341 - 344.
Kahn A H and Frederikse H P R, Oscillatory behavior of magnetic susceptibility and electronic conductivity, Sol. Stat. Phys., Vol. 9, (1959), 257 - 291.
Mitra B and Ghatak K P, Effect of Crossed Electric and Quantizing Magnetic Fields on the Einstein Relation in Semiconductor Superlattices, Phys. Stat. Sol. (b), Vol. 164, (1991), K13 – K18.
Ploog K and Dohler G H, Compositional and doping superlattices in III-V semiconductors, Adv. Phys., Vol. 32, (1983), 285 - 359.
Esaki L, Tsu R, Superlattice and negative differential conductivity in semiconductors, IBM. J. Res. Develop., Vol. 14, (1970), 61 - 65.
Silin A P, Semiconductor superlattices, Sov. Phys. Usp., Vol. 28, (1985), 972 - 993.
Friedman L, Electron-phonon scattering in superlattices, Phys. Rev. B, Vol. 32, (1985), 955 - 961
Lee S C, Opticaly Detected Magnetophonon Resonances in Quantum Wells, J. Korean Phys. Soc., Vol. 51, (2007), 1979 - 1986.
Smrcka L et al, Magnetoresistance oscillations in GaAs/AlGaAs superlattices subject to in-plane magnetic fields, Physica E, Vol. 34, (2006), 632 - 635.