Manifestation of the magnetic depopulation of one-dimensional subbands in the optical absorption of acoustic magnetoplasmons in side-gated quantum wires

We have investigated experimentally and theoretically the far-infrared (FIR) absorption of gated, deep-mesa-etched GaAs/Al$_x$Ga$_{1-x}$As quantum wires. To overcome Kohn's theorem we have in particular prepared double-layered wires and studied the acoustic magnetoplasmon branch. We find oscillations in the magnetic-field dispersion of the acoustic plasmon which are traced back to the self-consistently screened density profile in its dependence on the magnetic depopulation of the one-dimensional subbands.Comment: LaTeX-file, 4 pages with 3 included ps-figures, to appear in Physica

Far-infrared absorption in parallel quantum wires with weak tunneling

We study collective and single-particle intersubband excitations in a system of quantum wires coupled via weak tunneling. For an isolated wire with parabolic confinement, the Kohn's theorem guarantees that the absorption spectrum represents a single sharp peak centered at the frequency given by the bare confining potential. We show that the effect of weak tunneling between two parabolic quantum wires is twofold: (i) additional peaks corresponding to single-particle excitations appear in the absorption spectrum, and (ii) the main absorption peak acquires a depolarization shift. We also show that the interplay between tunneling and weak perpendicular magnetic field drastically enhances the dispersion of single-particle excitations. The latter leads to a strong damping of the intersubband plasmon for magnetic fields exceeding a critical value.Comment: 18 pages + 6 postcript figure

Far-Infrared Excitations below the Kohn Mode: Internal Motion in a Quantum Dot

We have investigated the far-infrared response of quantum dots in modulation doped GaAs heterostructures. We observe novel modes at frequencies below the center-of-mass Kohn mode. Comparison with Hartree-RPA calculations show that these modes arise from the flattened potential in our field-effect confined quantum dots. They reflect pronounced relative motion of the charge density with respect to the center-of-mass.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX with integrated 6 PostScript figure

Magnetoplasmon excitations in arrays of circular and noncircular quantum dots

We have investigated the magnetoplasmon excitations in arrays of circular and noncircular quantum dots within the Thomas-Fermi-Dirac-von Weizs\"acker approximation. Deviations from the ideal collective excitations of isolated parabolically confined electrons arise from local perturbations of the confining potential as well as interdot Coulomb interactions. The latter are unimportant unless the interdot separations are of the order of the size of the dots. Local perturbations such as radial anharmonicity and noncircular symmetry lead to clear signatures of the violation of the generalized Kohn theorem. In particular, the reduction of the local symmetry from SO(2) to $C_4$ results in a resonant coupling of different modes and an observable anticrossing behaviour in the power absorption spectrum. Our results are in good agreement with recent far-infrared (FIR) transmission experiments.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures, typeset in RevTe

Magnetoplasmon excitations in an array of periodically modulated quantum wires

Motivated by the recent experiment of Hochgraefe et al., we have investigated the magnetoplasmon excitations in a periodic array of quantum wires with a periodic modulation along the wire direction. The equilibrium and dynamic properties of the system are treated self-consistently within the Thomas-Fermi-Dirac-von Weizsaecker approximation. A calculation of the dynamical response of the system to a far-infrared radiation field reveals a resonant anticrossing between the Kohn mode and a finite-wavevector longitudinal excitation which is induced by the density modulation along the wires. Our theoretical calculations are found to be in excellent agreement with experiment.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

Oscillation modes of two-dimensional nanostructures within the time-dependent local-spin-density approximation

We apply the time-dependent local-spin-density approximation as general theory to describe ground states and spin-density oscillations in the linear response regime of two-dimensional nanostructures of arbitrary shape. For this purpose, a frequency analysis of the simulated real-time evolution is performed. The effect on the response of the recently proposed spin-density waves in the ground state of certain parabolic quantum dots is considered. They lead to the prediction of a new class of excitations, soft spin-twist modes, with energies well below that of the spin dipole oscillation.Comment: 4 RevTex pages and 4 GIF figures, accepted in PR

Influence of shape of quantum dots on their far-infrared absorption

We investigate the effects of the shape of quantum dots on their far-infrared absorption in an external magnetic field by a model calculation. We focus our attention on dots with a parabolic confinement potential deviating from the common circular symmetry, and dots having circular doughnut shape. For a confinement where the generalized Kohn theorem does not hold we are able to interprete the results in terms of a mixture of a center-of-mass mode and collective modes reflecting an excitation of relative motion of the electrons. The calculations are performed within the time-dependent Hartree approximation and the results are compared to available experimental results.Comment: RevTeX, 16 pages with 10 postscript figures included. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Gauge invariant grid discretization of Schr\"odinger equation

Using the Wilson formulation of lattice gauge theories, a gauge invariant grid discretization of a one-particle Hamiltonian in the presence of an external electromagnetic field is proposed. This Hamiltonian is compared both with that obtained by a straightforward discretization of the continuous Hamiltonian by means of balanced difference methods, and with a tight-binding Hamiltonian. The proposed Hamiltonian and the balanced difference one are used to compute the energy spectrum of a charged particle in a two-dimensional parabolic potential in the presence of a perpendicular, constant magnetic field. With this example we point out how a "naive" discretization gives rise to an explicit breaking of the gauge invariance and to large errors in the computed eigenvalues and corresponding probability densities; in particular, the error on the eigenfunctions may lead to very poor estimates of the mean values of some relevant physical quantities on the corresponding states. On the contrary, the proposed discretized Hamiltonian allows a reliable computation of both the energy spectrum and the probability densities.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, discussion about tight-binding Hamiltonians adde

Magnetization of noncircular quantum dots

We calculate the magnetization of quantum dots deviating from circular symmetry for noninteracting electrons or electrons interacting according to the Hartree approximation. For few electrons the magnetization is found to depend on their number, and the shape of the dot. The magnetization is an ideal probe into the many-electron state of a quantum dot.Comment: 11 RevTeX pages with 6 included Postscript figure

Microwave-induced magnetotransport phenomena in two-dimensional electron systems: Importance of electrodynamic effects

We discuss possible origins of recently discovered microwave induced photoresistance oscillations in very-high-electron-mobility two-dimensional electron systems. We show that electrodynamic effects -- the radiative decay, plasma oscillations, and retardation effects, -- are important under the experimental conditions, and that their inclusion in the theory is essential for understanding the discussed and related microwave induced magnetotransport phenomena.Comment: 5 pages, including 2 figures and 1 tabl