42 research outputs found
Field-induced delocalization and Zener breakdown in semiconductor superlattices
We investigate the energy spectrum and the electron dynamics of a band in a semiconductor superlattice as a function of the electric field. Linear optical spectroscopy shows that, for high fields, the well-known localization of the Bloch states is followed by a field-induced delocalization, associated with Zener breakdown. Using time-resolved measurements, we observe Bloch oscillations in a regime where they are damped by Zener breakdown
Ultrafast Coulomb-induced dynamics of 2D magnetoexcitons
We study theoretically the ultrafast nonlinear optical response of quantum
well excitons in a perpendicular magnetic field. We show that for
magnetoexcitons confined to the lowest Landau levels, the third-order
four-wave-mixing (FWM) polarization is dominated by the exciton-exciton
interaction effects. For repulsive interactions, we identify two regimes in the
time-evolution of the optical polarization characterized by exponential and
{\em power law} decay of the FWM signal. We describe these regimes by deriving
an analytical solution for the memory kernel of the two-exciton wave-function
in strong magnetic field. For strong exciton-exciton interactions, the decay of
the FWM signal is governed by an antibound resonance with an
interaction-dependent decay rate. For weak interactions, the continuum of
exciton-exciton scattering states leads to a long tail of the time-integrated
FWM signal for negative time delays, which is described by the product of a
power law and a logarithmic factor. By combining this analytic solution with
numerical calculations, we study the crossover between the exponential and
non-exponential regimes as a function of magnetic field. For attractive
exciton-exciton interaction, we show that the time-evolution of the FWM signal
is dominated by the biexcitonic effects.Comment: 41 pages with 11 fig
Field-induced delocalization and Zener breakdown in semiconductor superlattices
We investigate the energy spectrum and the electron dynamics of a band in a semiconductor superlattice as a function of the electric field. Linear optical spectroscopy shows that, for high fields, the well-known localization of the Bloch states is followed by a field-induced delocalization, associated with Zener breakdown. Using time-resolved measurements, we observe Bloch oscillations in a regime where they are damped by Zener breakdown
Charged hydrogenic problem in a magnetic field: Non-commutative translations, unitary transformations, and coherent states
An operator formalism is developed for a description of charged electron-hole
complexes in magnetic fields. A novel unitary transformation of the Hamiltonian
that allows one to partially separate the center-of-mass and internal motions
is proposed. We study the operator algebra that leads to the appearance of new
effective particles, electrons and holes with modified interparticle
interactions, and their coherent states in magnetic fields. The developed
formalism is used for studying a two-dimensional negatively charged
magnetoexciton . It is shown that Fano-resonances are present in the
spectra of internal transitions, indicating the existence of
three-particle quasi-bound states embedded in the continuum of higher Landau
levels.Comment: 9 pages + 2 figures, accepted in PRB, a couple of typos correcte
Tunnelling rates for the nonlinear Wannier-Stark problem
We present a method to numerically compute accurate tunnelling rates for a
Bose-Einstein condensate which is described by the nonlinear Gross-Pitaevskii
equation. Our method is based on a sophisticated real-time integration of the
complex-scaled Gross-Pitaevskii equation, and it is capable of finding the
stationary eigenvalues for the Wannier-Stark problem. We show that even weak
nonlinearities have significant effects in the vicinity of very sensitive
resonant tunnelling peaks, which occur in the rates as a function of the Stark
field amplitude. The mean-field interaction induces a broadening and a shift of
the peaks, and the latter is explained by analytic perturbation theory
Free induction signal from biexcitons and bound excitons
A theory of the free induction signal from biexcitons and bound excitons is
presented. The simultaneous existence of the exciton continuum and a bound
state is shown to result in a new type of time dependence of the free
induction. The optically detected signal increases in time and oscillates with
increasing amplitude until damped by radiative or dephasing processes.
Radiative decay is anomalously fast and can result in strong picosecond pulses.
The expanding area of a coherent exciton polarization (inflating antenna),
produced by the exciting pulse, is the underlying physical mechanism. The
developed formalism can be applied to different biexciton transients.Comment: RevTeX, 20 p. + 2 ps fig. To appear in Phys. Rev. B1
Optical properties of quantum wires: Disorder-scattering in the Lloyd-model
The Lloyd model is extended to the exciton problem in quasi one-dimensional
structures to study the interplay between the Coulomb attraction and disorder
scattering. Within this model the averaging and resummation of the locator
series can be performed analytically. As an application, the optical absorption
in quantum box wires is investigated. Without electron-hole interaction,
fluctuations in the well-width lead to an asymmetric broadening of the
minibands with respect to the lower and upper band-edges.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure
Transient four-wave mixing in T-shaped GaAs quantum wires
The binding energy of excitons and biexcitons and the exciton dephasing in T-shaped GaAs quantum wires is investigated by transient four-wave mixing. The T-shaped structure is fabricated by cleaved-edge overgrowth, and its geometry is engineered to optimize the one-dimensional confinement. In this wire of 6.6×24 nm2 size, we find a one-dimensional confinement of more than 20 meV, an inhomogeneous broadening of 3.4 meV, an exciton binding energy of 12 meV, and a biexciton binding energy of 2.0 meV. A dispersion of the homogeneous linewidth within the inhomogeneous broadening due to phonon-assisted relaxation is observed. The exciton acoustic-phonon-scattering coefficient of 6.1±0.5 μeV/K is larger than in comparable quantum-well structures
Magnetometry of low-dimensional electron and hole systems
Copyright © 2009 Institute of PhysicsThe high-magnetic-field, low-temperature magnetic properties of low-dimensional electron and hole systems reveal a wealth of fundamental information. Quantum oscillations of the thermodynamic equilibrium magnetization yield the total density of states, a central quantity in understanding the quantum Hall effect in 2D systems. The magnetization arising from non-equilibrium circulating currents reveals details, not accessible with traditional measurements, of the vanishingly small longitudinal resistance in the quantum Hall regime. We review how the technique of magnetometry has been applied to these systems, the most important discoveries that have been made, and their theoretical significance