Vertical charge transport in a superlattice

✍ Scribed by V.V. Paranjape

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 59 KB
• Volume: 25
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0749-6036
• DOI: 10.1006/spmi.1998.0617

✦ Synopsis

It is demonstrated that the vertical charge transport in a superlattice is influenced uniquely by the difference in the effective mass of the electron between its adjacent layers. The mass difference produces a coupling between the parallel and vertical motions of the electron. As a consequence, the vertical velocity of an electron depends not only on its wavevector in the vertical direction but also on the wavevector in the direction parallel to the layers. As an illustration of the effect, a qualitative analysis is made to show that the vertical motion of the electron wavepacket can be altered by the application of a magnetic field whose direction is normal to the layers.