Magnetotunnelling in semiconductor heterostructures

Experimental studies of magnetotunnelling in heterostructures have revealed series of resonances due to electrons tunnelling from a 2DEG in a lightly-doped emitter into magnetoquantised states in the collector contact of a single-barrier structure (Hickmott, 1987 and Snell et al. 1987) or in the quantum well of a double-barrier structure (Eaves et a1., 1988 and Leadbeater et a1., 1989). These experiments are very suitable for theoretical analysis since a transverse magnetic field (parallel to the barrier interfaces) has little effect on the electronic states of the 2DEG, provided the diamagnetic energy is much less than the binding energy of the bound state of the accumulation layer potential. The tunnelling electrons then have a small range of transverse momenta between +PF and -PF, where PF = l'lkF is the Fermi momentum in the 2DEG. This range determines the positions of the orbit centres of the magnetoquantised states into which the electrons are injected after emergence from the tunnel barrier. For the single-barrier heterostructures described in this thesis, these are interfacial Landau states corresponding to classical orbits in which the electron skips along the barrier interface. For double-barrier structures there are interfacial states at high magnetic fields and traversing states at low magnetic fields. Owing to the high electric field in the quantum well, the corresponding classical orbits are cycloidal trajectories which intersect both barrier interfaces (traversing states) or just one barrier interface (skipping states). The variation of the tunnel current I with magnetic field B and voltage V is calculated using the Bardeen transfer-Hamiltonian approach within a WKB approximation. The accumulation layer potential is modelled according to a simple variational solution. This enables a physical interpretation of the experimental results to be given in terms of the effect of the magnetic field on the effect ive barri er hei ght and the ampli tudes of the magnetoquantised wave functions at the barrier interfaces. Both of these effects are required to account for the observed dependence of current on magnetic field I(B) and the amplitudes of the oscillatory structure revealed in the derivative plots of dI/dB and d2I/dB2 accounts for: The model (a) the observation of two series of resonances corresponding to +PF and -PF electrons in experiments on (InGa)As/InP single-barrier structures. (b) the absence of the +PF series of resonances in GaAs/(A1Ga)As single-barrier structures. (c) the changeover from traversing to skipping states in GaAs/(A1Ga)As double-barrier structures and the characteristic decrease in oscillatory amplitudes in the changeover region

Magnetotunnelling in semiconductor heterostructures

Experimental studies of magnetotunnelling in heterostructures have revealed series of resonances due to electrons tunnelling from a 2DEG in a lightly-doped emitter into magnetoquantised states in the collector contact of a single-barrier structure (Hickmott, 1987 and Snell et al. 1987) or in the quantum well of a double-barrier structure (Eaves et a1., 1988 and Leadbeater et a1., 1989). These experiments are very suitable for theoretical analysis since a transverse magnetic field (parallel to the barrier interfaces) has little effect on the electronic states of the 2DEG, provided the diamagnetic energy is much less than the binding energy of the bound state of the accumulation layer potential. The tunnelling electrons then have a small range of transverse momenta between +PF and -PF, where PF = l'lkF is the Fermi momentum in the 2DEG. This range determines the positions of the orbit centres of the magnetoquantised states into which the electrons are injected after emergence from the tunnel barrier. For the single-barrier heterostructures described in this thesis, these are interfacial Landau states corresponding to classical orbits in which the electron skips along the barrier interface. For double-barrier structures there are interfacial states at high magnetic fields and traversing states at low magnetic fields. Owing to the high electric field in the quantum well, the corresponding classical orbits are cycloidal trajectories which intersect both barrier interfaces (traversing states) or just one barrier interface (skipping states). The variation of the tunnel current I with magnetic field B and voltage V is calculated using the Bardeen transfer-Hamiltonian approach within a WKB approximation. The accumulation layer potential is modelled according to a simple variational solution. This enables a physical interpretation of the experimental results to be given in terms of the effect of the magnetic field on the effect ive barri er hei ght and the ampli tudes of the magnetoquantised wave functions at the barrier interfaces. Both of these effects are required to account for the observed dependence of current on magnetic field I(B) and the amplitudes of the oscillatory structure revealed in the derivative plots of dI/dB and d2I/dB2 accounts for: The model (a) the observation of two series of resonances corresponding to +PF and -PF electrons in experiments on (InGa)As/InP single-barrier structures. (b) the absence of the +PF series of resonances in GaAs/(A1Ga)As single-barrier structures. (c) the changeover from traversing to skipping states in GaAs/(A1Ga)As double-barrier structures and the characteristic decrease in oscillatory amplitudes in the changeover region

Effects of classical stochastic webs on the quantum dynamics of cold atomic gases in a moving optical lattice

We introduce and investigate a system that uses temporal resonance-induced phase-space pathways to create strong coupling between an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate and a traveling optical lattice potential. We show that these pathways thread both the classical and quantum phase space of the atom cloud, even when the optical lattice potential is arbitrarily weak. The topology of the pathways, which form weblike patterns, can by controlled by changing the amplitude and period of the optical lattice. In turn, this control can be used to increase and limit the BEC’s center-of-mass kinetic energy to prespecified values. Surprisingly, the strength of the atom-lattice interaction and resulting BEC heating of the center-of-mass motion is enhanced by the repulsive interatomic interactions

Detecting Dark Domain Walls

Light scalar fields, with double well potentials and direct matter couplings, undergo density driven phase transitions, leading to the formation of domain walls. Such theories could explain dark energy, dark matter or source the nanoHz gravitational-wave background. We describe an experiment that could be used to detect such domain walls in a laboratory experiment, solving for the scalar field profile, and showing how the domain wall affects the motion of a test particle. We find that, in currently unconstrained regions of parameter space, the domain walls leave detectable signatures.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

III-V semiconductor waveguides for photonic functionality at 780 nm

Photonic integrated circuits based on III-V semiconductor polarization-maintaining waveguides were designed and fabricated for the first time for application in a compact cold-atom gravimeter1,2 at an operational wavelength of 780 nm. Compared with optical fiber-based components, semiconductor waveguides achieve very compact guiding of optical signals for both passive functions, such as splitting and recombining, and for active functions, such as switching or modulation. Quantum sensors, which have enhanced sensitivity to a physical parameter as a result of their quantum nature, can be made from quantum gases of ultra-cold atoms. A cloud of ultra-cold atoms may start to exhibit quantum-mechanical properties when it is trapped and cooled using laser cooling in a magneto-optical trap, to reach milli-Kelvin temperatures. The work presented here focuses on the design and fabrication of optical devices for a quantum sensor to measure the acceleration of gravity precisely and accurately. In this case the cloud of ultra-cold atoms consists of rubidium (87Rb) atoms and the sensor exploits the hyperfine structure of the D1 transition, from an outer electronic state of 5 2S ½ to 5 2P3/2 which has an energy of 1.589 eV or 780.241 nm. The short wavelength of operation of the devices dictated stringent requirements on the Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) and device fabrication in terms of anisotropy and smoothness of plasma etch processes, cross-wafer uniformities and alignment tolerances. Initial measurements of the optical loss of the polarization-maintaining waveguide, assuming Fresnel reflection losses only at the facets, suggested a loss of 8 dB cm-1, a loss coefficient, α, of 1.9 (±0.3) cm-1

Enhancing optoelectronic properties of SiC-grown graphene by a surface layer of colloidal quantum dots

We report a simultaneous increase of carrier concentration, mobility and photoresponsivity when SiC-grown graphene is decorated with a surface layer of colloidal PbS quantum dots, which act as electron donors. The charge on the ionised dots is spatially correlated with defect charges on the SiC-graphene interface, thus enhancing both electron carrier density and mobility. This charge-correlation model is supported by Monte Carlo simulations of electron transport and used to explain the unexpected 3-fold increase of mobility with increasing electron density. The enhanced carrier concentration and mobility give rise to Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in the magnetoresistance, which provide an estimate of the electron cyclotron mass in graphene at high densities and Fermi energies up to 1.2 × 1013 cm-2 and 400 meV, respectively

Using acoustic waves to induce high-frequency current oscillations in superlattices

We show that gigahertz acoustic waves in semiconductor superlattices can induce terahertz (THz) electron dynamics that depend critically on the wave amplitude. Below the threshold amplitude, the acoustic wave drags electrons through the superlattice with a peak drift velocity overshooting that produced by a static electric field. In this regime, single electrons perform drifting orbits with THz frequency components. When the wave amplitude exceeds the critical threshold, an abrupt onset of Bloch-type oscillations causes negative differential velocity. The acoustic wave also affects the collective behavior of the electrons by causing the formation of localized electron accumulation and depletion regions, which propagate through the superlattice, thereby producing self-sustained current oscillations even for very small wave amplitudes. We show that the underlying single-electron dynamics, in particular, the transition between the acoustic wave dragging and Bloch oscillation regimes, strongly influence the spatial distribution of the electrons and the form of the current oscillations. In particular, the amplitude of the current oscillations depends nonmonotonically on the strength of the acoustic wave, reflecting the variation in the single-electron drift velocity

Semiconductor charge transport driven by a picosecond strain pulse

We demonstrate that a picosecond strain pulse can be used to drive an electric current through both thin-film epilayer and heterostructure semiconductor crystals in the absence of an external electric field. By measuring the transient current pulses, we are able to clearly distinguish the effects of the coherent and incoherent components of the acoustic packet. The properties of the strain induced signal suggest a technique for exciting picosecond current pulses, which may be used to probe semiconductor devices