Abstract
In this chapter we review recent studies of Bloch oscillations in semiconductor superlattices. Particular emphasis is put on interband optical experiments, where a coherent ensemble of carriers is created by laser excitation. These optical studies have been used to investigate many properties of Bloch oscillations. We discuss in detail recent experiments where the amplitude of the Bloch oscillation electrons is determined directly as a function of the bias field. We also show that the amplitude can be controlled by a variation of the optical excitation conditions. Further parts are devoted to a comparison of the interband optical experiments with transport experiments with and without intraband excitation, including recent transport experiments in natural superlattice structures. The chapter is concluded by a brief discussion of possible device applications.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
P. Drude, Ann. Physik 1, 566; ibid., 3, 369 (1900).
F. Bloch, Z. Phys. 52, 555 (1928).
C. Zener, Proc. R. Soc. London Ser. A 145, 523 (1932).
V. Langer and A.W. von der Osten, Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, (1990).
E.O. Göbel, K. Leo, T.C. Damen, J. Shah, S. Schmitt-Rink, W. Schäfer, J.F. Müller, K. Köhler, Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, 1801 (1990).
K. Leo, T.C. Damen, J. Shah, E.O. Göbel, K. Köhler, Appl. Phys. Lett. 57, 19 (1990).
K. Leo, J. Shah, E.O. Göbel, T.C. Damen, S. Schmitt-Rink, W. Schäfer, J.F. Müller, K. Köhler, P. Ganser, Phys. Rev. B44, 5726 (1991).
K. Leo, J. Shah, E.O. Göbel, T.C. Damen, S. Schmitt-Rink, W. Schäfer, K. Köhler, Phys. Rev. Lett. 66, 201 (1991).
H.G. Roskos, M. C. Nuss, J. Shah, K. Leo, D.A.B. Miller, A. M. Fox, S. Schmitt-Rink, K. Köhler, Phys. Rev. Lett. 68, 2216 (1992).
N. W. Ashcroft and N. D. Mermin, Solid State Physics, Holt-Saunders Int. Ed., Philadelphia, 1981.
G.H. Wannier, Phys. Rev. 117, 432 (1969). The first prediction for the ladderlike structure was actually given by H.M. James, Phys. Rev. 76, 1611 (1949).
G. Nenciu, Rev. Mod. Phys. 63, 91 (1991).
4. L. Esaki and R. Tsu, IBM J. Res. Dev. 14, 61, 1970.
Technology and Physics of MBE, Ed. E.H.C. Parker (Plenum Press, New York 1985).
G. Bastard, Wave mechanics applied to semiconductor heterostructures (Les Editions de physique, Les Ulis 1988), p. 63.
L. Esaki, L.L. Chang, W.E. Howard, and V.L. Rideout, Proc. 11 th Conf. Physics of Semiconductors, Warsaw, 1972, p. 431.
A. Sibille, J.F. Palmier, H. Wang, and F. Mollot, Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, 52 (1990).
A. Sibille, J.F. Palmier, M. Hadjazi, H. Wang, G. Etemadi, and E. Dutisseuil, Superlattices & Microsctructures 13, 247 (1993).
M. Lee, S.A. Solin, and D.R. Hines, Phys. Rev. B 48, 11921 (1993).
E. E. Mendez, F. Agullo-Rueda, and J. M. Hong, Phys. Rev. Lett. 60, 2426 (1988).
P. Voisin, J. Bleuse, C. Bouche, S. Gaillard, C. Alibert, and A. Regreny, Phys. Rev. Lett. 61, 1639 (1988).
A.M. Fox, D.A.B. Miller, J.E. Cunningham, W.Y. Jan, C.Y.P. Chao, and S.L. Chuang, Phys. Rev. B 46, 15365 (1992).
M. Ben Dahan, E. Peik, J. Reichel, Y. Castin, and C. Salomon, Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 4508 (1996).
E. Peik, M. Ben Dahan, I. Bouchoule, Y. Castin, and C. Salomon, Phys. Rev. A 55, 2989 (1997).
M. M. Dignam, J. E. Sipe, and J. Shah, Phys. Rev. B 49, pp. 10502–10513, 1994.
A.M. Bouchard and M. Luban, Phys. Rev. B 47, 6815 (1993).
G. Bastard and R. Ferreira, in Spectroscopy of Semiconductor Microstructures, Vol. 206 of NATO Advanced Study Institute, Series B: Physics, eds. G. Fasol and A. Fasolino (Plenum Press, New York 1989), p. 333.
T. Yajima and Y. Taira, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 47, 1620 (1979).
G. von Plessen and P. Thomas, Phys. Rev. B 45, 9185 (1992).
J. Feldmann, K. Leo, J. Shah, D. A. B. Miller, and J. E. Cunningham, Phys. Rev. B 46, 7252 (1992).
K. Leo, P. Haring Bolivar, F. Brüggemann, and R. Schwedler, Solid State Comm. 84, 943 (1992).
T. Tokizaki, A. Nakamura, Y. Ishida, T. Yahima, 1. Akai, and T. Karasawa, in Ultrafast Phenomena VII, eds. C.B. Harris, E.P. Ippen, G.A. Mourou, and A.H. Zewail, Springer Series in Chemical Physikcs Vol. 53 (Springer Verlag Berlin 1990), p. 253.
P. Leisching, P. Haring Bolivar, W. Beck, Y Dhaibi, F. Brüggemann, R. Schwedler, H. Kurz, K. Leo, and K. Köhler, Phys. Rev. B 50, 143 89 (1994).
G. Cohen, I. Bar-Joseph, and H. Shtrikman, Phys. Rev. B 50, 17316 (1994).
T. Dekorsy, P. Leisching, K. Köhler, and H. Kurz, Phys. Rev. B 50, 8106 (1994).
T. Dekorsy, R. Ott, H. Kurz, and K. Köhler, Phys. Rev. B 51, 17275 (1995).
K. Leo, Semiconductor Science and Technology 13, 249–263 (1998)
C. Waschke, H. G. Roskos, R. Schwedler, K. Leo, and H. Kurz, Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 3319 (1993).
T. Meier, F. Rossi, P. Thomas, and S.W. Koch, Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 2558 (1995).
V.M. Axt, G. Bartels, and A. Stahl, Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 2543 (1996).
P. Haring Bolivar, F. Wolter, A. Müller, H.G. Roskos, H. Kurz, and K. Köhler, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 2232 (1997).
V. G. Lyssenko, G. Valusis, F. Löser, K. Leo, M. M. Dignam, K. Köhler, Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, pp. 301–304, 1997.
M. Sudzius, V.G. Lyssenko, T. Hasche, K. Leo, M.M. Dignam, K. Köhler, phys. stat. sol. b 206, 315 (1998).
M.M. Dignam, Bull. Am. Phys. Soc. 43(1), 784 (1998).
M.M. Dignam, Phys. Rev. B 59, 5770 (1999).
R.B. Liu and B.F. Zhu, Phys. Rev. B 59, 5759 (1999).
M. Sudzius, V.G. Lyssenko, F. Löser, K. Leo, M.M. Dignam, K. Köhler, Phys. Rev. B 57, 12693 (1998).
E.E. Mendez, F. Agullo-Rueda, and J.M. Hong, Appl. Phys. Lett. 56, 2545 (1990).
A. Sibille, J.F. Palmier, F. Mollot, Appl. Phys. Lett. 60, 457 (1992).
V. Sankin and A. Naumov, Superlattices & Microstructures 10, 353 (1991).
V. Sankin, Superlattices & Microstructures 18, 309 (1995).
V. Sankin and I. Stolichnov, Superlattices & Microstructures 23, 999 (1998).
M. Helm, Semic. Sci. Technol. 10, 567 (1995).
M. Helm, W. Hilber, T. Fromherz, F.M. Peeters, K. Alavi, and R.N. Pathak, Phys. Rev. B 48, 1601 (1993).
G. Brozak, M. Helm, F. DeRosa, C.H. Perry, M. Koza, R. Bhat, and S.J. Allen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, 3163 (1990).
G. Bastard and R. Ferreira, C.R. Acad Sci. Paris 312 II, 971 (1991).
M. Helm, P. England, E. Colas, F. DeRosa, and S.J. Allen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 63, 74 (1989).
A.A. Ignatov, E. Schomburg, K.F. Renk, W. Schatz, J.F. Palmier, and F. Mollot, Ann. Physik 3, 137 (194).
E. Schomburg, A.A. Ignatov, J. Grenzer, K.F. Renk, D.g. Pavel’ev, Yu. Koschurinov, B. Ja. Melzer, S. Ivanov, S. Schaposchnikov, and P.S. Kop’ev, Appl. Phys. Lett. 68, 1096 (1996).
A.A. Ignatov, K.F. Renk, and E.P. Dodin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 1996 (1993).
K. Unterrainer, B.J. Keay, M.C. Wanke, S.J. Allen, D. Leonard, G. Medeiros-Ribeiro, U. Bhattacharya, and M.J. Rodwell, Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 2973 (1996).
S. Luryi, IEEE J. Quant. Electr. 27, 54 (1991).
J. Faist, F. Capasso, D.L. Sivco, C. Sirtori, A.L. Hutchison, and A.Y. Cho, Science 264, 553(1994).
G. Scamarcio, F. Capasso, C. Sirtori, J. Faist, A. L. Hutchison, D.L. Sivco, and A.Y. Cho, Science 276, 773 (1997).
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sudzius, M. et al. (2001). Bloch Oscillations in Semiconductors: Principles and Applications. In: Tsen, KT. (eds) Ultrafast Phenomena in Semiconductors. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0203-2_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0203-2_3
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-6562-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-0203-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive