Effective mass and ground state of AlAs quantum wells studied by magnetoresistance measurements

Koichi Maezawa*, Takashi Mizutani, Syoji Yamada

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Scopus citations

Abstract

Transport properties of electrons confined in AlAs quantum wells were studied using low temperature magnetoresistance measurement. The structure used is quantum wells consisting of AlAs channel layers sandwiched by Si-doped Al0.45Ga0.55As barrier layers. This structure enables us to confine electrons in the X valleys of AlAs. The electron confinement in the AlAs quantum wells were confirmed by a mobility enhancement at low temperatures. Magnetoresistance measurements showed clear Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations for the magnetic field parallel to the growth direction. A large effective mass of (0.55±0.05) m0, which is close to √mtm l (mt:transverse effective mass, ml: longitudinal effective mass), was obtained from the temperature dependence of the oscillations. This indicates that the ground state is Xx, X y, even though Xz was expected to be the ground state due to its large effective mass parallel to the growth direction. This changeover of AlAs X valley states can most likely be attributed to a strain-induced energy shift caused by the small lattice mismatch between GaAs and AlAs.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)296-299
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of Applied Physics
Volume71
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1992

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Physics and Astronomy

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