Non-resonant tunnelling in short-period superlattices with optical cavities

M.S. Kagan; I.V. Altukhov; S.K. Paprotskiy; A.N. Baranov; R. Teissier; N.D. Il’inskaya; A.A. Usikova; A.D. Buravlev; V.M. Ustinov

doi:10.3952/physics.v54i1.2846

M.S. Kagan
I.V. Altukhov
S.K. Paprotskiy
A.N. Baranov
R. Teissier
N.D. Il’inskaya
A.A. Usikova
A.D. Buravlev
V.M. Ustinov

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3952/physics.v54i1.2846

Keywords: superlattices, non-resonant tunnelling, optical cavities, Purcell effect

Abstract

The vertical transport in short-period InAs/AlSb and GaAs/AlAs superlattices was studied. The negative differential conductivity was observed in a miniband transport regime as a result of the overlapping of confined states in a periodic quantum well structure (Esaki-Tsu mechanism). Several maxima appeared on current–voltage characteristics of the superlattices found in the non-resonant tunnelling regime. They are shown to be due to the influence of the optical cavity on optical transitions within quantum wells (Purcell effect).