Cyclotron resonance photoconductivity of a two-dimensional electron gas in HgTe quantum wells

Far-infrared cyclotron resonance photoconductivity (CRP) is investigated in HgTe quantum wells (QWs) of various widths grown on (013) oriented GaAs substrates. It is shown that CRP is caused by the heating of two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). From the resonance magnetic field strength effective masses and their dependence on the carrier concentration is obtained. We found that the effective mass in each sample slightly increases from the value (0.0260 \pm 0.0005)m_0 at N_s = 2.2x10^11 cm^(-2) to (0.0335 \pm 0.0005)m_0 at N_s = 9.6x10^11 cm^(-2). Compared to determination of effective masses by the temperature dependence of magnitudes of the Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillations used so far in this material our measurements demonstrate that the CRP provides a more accurate (about few percents) tool. Combining optical methods with transport measurements we found that the transport time substantially exceeds the cyclotron resonance lifetime as well as the quantum lifetime which is the shortest.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figure

Large positive magneto-resistance in high mobility 2D electron gas : interplay of short and long range disorder

7 jan 2004We have observed a large positive quasi-classicalmagneto-resistance (MR) in a high mobility 2D electron gas inAlGaAs/GaAs heterostructure. The magneto-resistance isnon-saturating and increases with magnetic field as \rho_{xx}\simB^{\alpha} (\alpha=0.9-1.2). In antidot lattices a non-monotonicMR is observed. We show that in both cases this MR can bequalitatively described in terms of the theory recently advancedby Polyakov et al (PRB, 64, 205306 (2001)).Their prediction is that such behavior as we observe may be theconsequence of a concurrent existence of short and long rangescattering potentials

Quantum corrections to the conductivity and Hall coefficient of a 2D electron gas in a dirty AlGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well: transition from diffusive to ballistic regime.

We report an experimental study of the quantum corrections to the longitudinal conductivity and the Hall coefficient of a low mobility, high density two-dimensional two-dimensional electron gas in a AlGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well in a wide temperature range (1.5 K - 110 K). This temperature range covers both the diffusive and the ballistic interaction regimes for our samples. It was therefore possible to study the crossover region for the longitudinal conductivity and the Hall effect

Ballistic geometric resistance resonances in a single surface of a topological insulator

Ballistic motion on nanometer scale of topological surface states has rarely been studied. Here, Maier et al. report pronounced geometric resistance resonances of high-mobility Dirac electrons in strained HgTe, suggesting a ballistic effect in three-dimensional topological insulators

Band structure near the Dirac Point in HgTe quantum wells with critical thickness

Mercury telluride (HgTe) thin films with a critical thickness of 6.5 nm are predicted to possess a gapless Dirac-like band structure. We report a comprehensive study on gated and optically doped samples by magnetooptical spectroscopy in the THz range. The quasi-classical analysis of the cyclotron resonance allowed the mapping of the band dispersion of Dirac charge carriers in a broad range of electron and hole doping. A smooth transition through the charge neutrality point between Dirac holes and electrons was observed. An additional peak coming from a second type of holes with an almost density-independent mass of around 0.04m0 was detected in the hole-doping range and attributed to an asymmetric spin splitting of the Dirac cone. Spectroscopic evidence for disorder-induced band energy fluctuations could not be detected in present cyclotron resonance experiments