Energy spectrum and barrier localization of quantum well electrons in parallel magnetic fields

Abstract

The magnetically tunable energy spectrum and the charge density distributions of electrons in GaAs-AlGaAs quantum wells with magnetic fields parallel to the interfaces are calculated both analytically and numerically. For states below the barrier edge and magnetic fields up to 15-20 T both methods yield nearly identical results. There are two types of localized states above the barrier. They originate from shallow depressions of the effective potential and from interferences.