Intersubband energy relaxation in quantum well structures in a quantizing magnetic field

Abstract

The kinetics of the intersubband relaxation of the electronic excitation energy in the GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well is studied when electrons are excited to the upper subband lying below the optical phonon energy. We found that electrons' interaction in different subbands plays a crucial role in relaxation. The electron-electron scattering events when the interacting electrons are in different subbands lead to heating of the electrons in the upper subbands and a significant acceleration of the energy relaxation.