Plasmon–terahertz photon interaction in high-electron-mobility heterostructures

Abstract

Terahertz (THz) radiation couples to a two-dimensional electron plasma in high-electronmobility heterostructures which allows one to study fundamental properties of this electron system and construct plasma-based devices. This article reviews some of the recent results of theoretical and experimental studies on plasmon-THz photon interaction. In particular, plasma dispersion relations, mechanisms of THz-field rectification and ultrastrong light-matter coupling are discussed in conventional structures based on GaAs and CdTe and new materials-graphene and black phosphorus.

Direct observation of a Γ−X energy spectrum transition in narrow AlAs quantum wells

“…For polar semiconductors non-parabolicity can lead to modification of the band structure and an increase of the effective mass due to rise of electron density. In 2DES the experimental dependence of cyclotron effective mass on electron concentration were observed earlier in AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures [1]. The energy E in quasi-2DES is determined by Fermi energy and the spatial quantization E dim .…”

“…The contribution of spatial quantization energy is estimated as E dim = π 2h2 2m * W 2 = 11.2meV (1) where m * = 1.1 m 0 and W = 5.5 nm. The Fermi energy for dis described by the equation E F (n s = 3.0 × 10 11 ) = π 2h2 n s m * = 4.1meV (2) E F (n s = 7.0 × 10 11 ) = 9.7meV…”

“…Studies of plasma excitations play an increasingly important role in modern research on the electrodynamics of two-dimensional electron systems (2DESs) [1]. Plasma excitations are usually studied in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures with a single-valley isotropic 2DES confined to a GaAs layer [2][3][4].…”

Comparative study on calculated terahertz absorption spectra of different heterostructure materials with external magnetic field

“…At the low magnetic field B=1 T, the electron cyclotron frequency f c is 0.13 THz (GaN based materials), 0.44 THz (AlGaAs/GaAs) and 0.15 THz (SiGe/Si). Due to the low cyclotron frequency, the resonant peaks were mainly contributed by the 2D plasmon-polaritons according to the local approximation formula for the MPPs mode [22,23]…”

Terahertz Spectroscopy of Double CdTe/CdMgTe Quantum Wells

“…Modulation doped heterostructures or quantum wells (QWs) with a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) have been intensively studied with THz spectroscopy techniques in the presence of magnetic field [1]. Two main reasons have been motivating this research.…”