Direct measurements of the electron–acoustic phonon interaction in GaAs quantum wire structures

Abstract

In this paper we describe new direct measurements of the emission and absorption of acoustic phonons by quasi-one-dimensional electrons in GaAs quantum wire structures. The measurements were made using heat-pulse techniques: for the absorption experiments, nonequilibrium phonons were generated using a metal-film resistive heater and the absorption detected via the change in conductivity induced in the quantum wire itself (phonoconductivity); in the emission experiments, the electrons in a quantum wire array were heated electrically and the emitted phonons detected by superconducting bolometers.