Effect of well thickness on the two-dimensional electron-hole system inAlxGa1−xSb/InAs quantum wells

Abstract

We have studied the effect of well thickness on the two-dimensional electron-hole system in semimetallic ${\mathrm{Al}}_{\mathrm{x}}$${\mathrm{Ga}}_{1\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{x}}$Sb/InAs quantum wells by Shubnikov--de Haas (SdH) measurements. The number of hole carriers in the ${\mathrm{Al}}_{\mathrm{x}}$${\mathrm{Ga}}_{1\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{x}}$Sb barriers was changed by a negative persistent photoconductivity effect. From the amplitude of SdH oscillation for the sample with the thinnest well, we found that the interface roughness scattering dominated when the number of hole carriers is small. After the number of holes is increased by the negative persistent photoconductivity effect, the electron-hole scattering becomes more important, and results in a reduction of the electron quantum lifetime. The competition between electron-hole scattering and interface roughness scattering depends on the amount of holes in the barriers.