Comment on ``Spin and cyclotron energies of electrons in GaAs/GaAlAs quantum wells''

In a recent publication, Pfeffer and Zawadzki [cond-mat/0607150; Phys. Rev. B 74, 115309 (2006)] attempted a calculation of electron g factor in III-V heterostructures. The authors emphasize that their outcome is in strong discrepancy with our original result [Ivchenko and Kiselev, Sov. Phys. Semicond. 26, 827 (1992)] and readily conclude that ``the previous theory of the g factor in heterostructures is inadequate''. We show here that the entire discrepancy can be tracked down to an additional contribution missing in the incomplete elimination procedure of Pfeffer and Zawadzki. This mistake equally affects their ``exact'' and approximate results. When the overlooked terms stemming from the nondiagonal Zeeman interaction between light hole and spin-orbit-split valence states are taken into account in the effective electron dispersion, the results of the both approaches applied to the three-level kp model become identical.Comment: 5 pages, no figure

Optical properties of 1D photonic crystals based on multiple-quantum-well structures

A general approach to the analysis of optical properties of photonic crystals based on multiple-quantum-well structures is developed. The effect of the polarization state and a non-perpendicular incidence of the electromagnetic wave is taken into account by introduction of an effective excitonic susceptibility and an effective optical width of the quantum wells. This approach is applied to consideration of optical properties of structures with a pre-engineered break of the translational symmetry. It is shown, in particular, that a layer with different exciton frequency placed at the middle of an MQW structure leads to appearance of a resonance suppression of the reflection.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, submitted to PR

Spin relaxation of conduction electrons in (110)-grown quantum wells

The theory of spin relaxation of conduction electrons is developed for zinc-blende-type quantum wells grown on (110)-oriented substrate. It is shown that, in asymmetric structures, the relaxation of electron spin initially oriented along the growth direction is characterized by two different lifetimes and leads to the appearance of an in-plane spin component. The magnitude and sign of the in-plane component are determined by the structure inversion asymmetry of the quantum well and can be tuned by the gate voltage. In an external magnetic field, the interplay of cyclotron motion of carriers and the Larmor precession of electron spin can result in a nonmonotonic dependence of the spin density on the magnetic field.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Resonant Fibonacci Quantum Well Structures

We propose a resonant one-dimensional quasicrystal, namely, a multiple quantum well (MQW) structure satisfying the Fibonacci-chain rule with the golden ratio between the long and short inter-well distances. The resonant Bragg condition is generalized from the periodic to Fibonacci MQWs. A dispersion equation for exciton-polaritons is derived in the two-wave approximation, the effective allowed and forbidden bands are found. The reflection spectra from the proposed structures are calculated as a function of the well number and detuning from the Bragg condition.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Electron scattering in quantum wells subjected to an in-plane magnetic field

It is shown that the electron scattering by static defects, acoustic or optical phonons in quantum wells subjected to an in-plane magnetic field is asymmetric. The probability of scattering contains terms which are proportional to both the electron wave vector and the magnetic field components. The terms under study are caused by the lack of an inversion center in quantum wells due to structure or bulk inversion asymmetry although they are of pure diamagnetic origin. Such a magnetic field induced asymmetry of scattering can be responsible for a number of phenomena. In particular, the asymmetry of inelastic electron-phonon interaction leads to an electric current flow if only the electron gas is driven out of thermal equilibrium with the crystal lattice.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

Spin orientation of two-dimensional electron gas under intraband optical pumping

The theory of spin orientation of two-dimensional (2D) electron gas has been developed for intrasubband indirect optical transitions. The monopolar optical orientation of electrons in the conduction band is caused by the indirect scattering with virtual intermediate states in the valence band and allowance for selection rules for interband transitions. The considered mechanism of optical orientation is shown to be in an inherent relation with the special Elliot-Yafet mechanism of electron spin relaxation induced by virtual interband scattering.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, Symposium "Nanostructures: Physics and Technology", St.Petersburg, Russia, 200

Influence of bottom topography on integral constraints in zonal flows with parameterized potential vorticity fluxes

An integral constraint for eddy fluxes of potential vorticity (PV), corresponding to global momentum conservation, is applied to two-layer zonal quasi-geostrophic channel flow. This constraint must be satisfied for any type of parameterization of eddy PV fluxes. Bottom topography strongly influence the integral constraint compared to a flat bottom channel. An analytical solution for the mean flow solution has been found by using asymptotic expansion in a small parameter which is the ratio of the Rossby radius to the meridional extent of the channel. Applying the integral constraint to this solution, one can find restrictions for eddy PV transfer coefficients which relate the eddy fluxes of PV to the mean flow. These restrictions strongly deviate from restrictions for the channel with flat bottom topography

Ratchet effects in two-dimensional systems with a lateral periodic potential

Radiation-induced ratchet electric currents have been studied theoretically in graphene with a periodic noncentrosymmetric lateral potential. The ratchet current generated under normal incidence is shown to consist of two contributions, one of them being polarization-independent and proportional to the energy relaxation time, and another controlled solely by elastic scattering processes and sensitive to both the linear and circular polarization of radiation. Two realistic mechanisms of electron scattering in graphene are considered. For short-range defects, the ratchet current is helicity-dependent but independent of the direction of linear polarization. For the Coulomb impurity scattering, the ratchet current is forbidden for the radiation linearly polarized in the plane perpendicular to the lateral-potential modulation direction. For comparison, the ratchet currents in a quantum well with a lateral superlattice are calculated at low temperatures with allowance for the dependence of the momentum relaxation time on the electron energy.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure