Transition from longitudinal‐optical phonon scattering to surface‐optical phonon scattering in polar semiconductor superlattices

Dielectric continuum models of optical‐phonon modes predict an enhancement in the strength of the surface‐optical (SO) modes in double‐barrier heterostructures as the heterojunction‐to‐heterojunction separation is reduced. There is currently no consensus on the nature of the electron‐SO‐phonon coupling interaction. In this work, the ratio of electron scattering by the SO‐phonon modes to that by the confined longitudinal‐optical (LO) phonon modes is calculated for a GaAs/AlAs short‐period superlattice based on the assumption that the electron‐SO‐phonon interaction may be described by a scalar potential. The scaling of the ratio of electron‐SO‐phonon scattering to electron‐LO‐phonon scattering as a function of the superlattice period provides a sensitive test of the appropriateness of the scalar‐potential model.

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