Monte Carlo studies of miniband conduction in extreme type-II superlattices

Abstract

Miniband charge transport was investigated by Monte Carlo simulations of electronic motion in short period superlattices of type-II energy band alignment (InAs/GaSb composition). The strong decrease of the miniband energy width when the electronic in-plane energy increases, characteristic of type-II superlattices, leads to a conductivity that is very sensitive to a magnetic field applied parallel to the axis of the superlattice. For structures with a miniband energy width greater than the optic phonon energy, the differential conductance can be changed from positive to negative by the magnetic field, due to the suppression of optic phonon emission.