Optical response of two-dimensional electron fluids beyond the Kohn regime: strong non-parabolic confinement and intense laser light

We investigate the linear and non-linear optical response of two-dimensional (2D) interacting electron fluids confined by a strong non-parabolic potential. We show that such fluids may exhibit higher-harmonic spectra under realistic experimental conditions. Higher harmonics arise as the electrons explore anharmonicities of the confinement potential (electron-electron interactions reduce this non-linear effect). This opens the possibility of controlling the optical functionality of such systems by engineering the confinement potential. Our results were obtained within time-dependent density-functional theory, employing the adiabatic local-density approximation. A classical hydrodynamical model is in good agreement with the quantum-mechanical results.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Elementary electronic excitation from a two-dimensional hole gas in the presence of spin-orbit interaction

We present a theoretical study of the elementary electronic excitation associated with plasmon modes in a two-dimensional hole gas (2DHG) in the presence of spin-orbit (SO) interaction induced by the Rashba effect. The calculation is carried out using a standard random-phase-approximation approach. It is found that in such a spintronic system, plasmon excitation can be achieved via intra- and inter-SO electronic transitions around the Fermi level. As a result, the intra- and inter-SO plasmon modes can be observed. More importantly, the plasmon modes induced by inter-SO transition are optic-like and these modes can be directly applied to identify the Rashba spin splitting in 2DHG systems through optical measurements. The interesting features of the plasmon excitation in a spin split 2DHG are analyzed and discussed in details. Moreover, the results obtained for a 2DHG are compared with those obtained for a spin-splitting 2DEG reported very recently.Comment: 17 pages and 6 figure