Theoretical study of magnetotunneling spectroscopy

Abstract

We present a quantum theory useful for analyzing the data of resonant magnetotunneling spectroscopy of semiconductor heterostructures. The effect of a vector potential on a tunneling electron, due to the magnetic field, is described by using an in-plane wave vector that varies with traversal distance during the course of tunneling. We solve the effective-mass equation layer by layer, with the in-plane wave vector of electrons fixed in each layer. We calculate the tunneling current I as a function of bias V for various magnetic fields B, and, in agreement with recent experiments, find dramatic variations of peak currents with B, which is attributed to the coupling between heavy- and light-hole states. We trace the voltages ${\mathrm{V}}_{\mathrm{p}}$ at current peaks as functions of B, and compare them with the in-plane dispersion E(${\mathrm{k}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\parallel}}}$ ), which quantifies the relation between ${\mathrm{V}}_{\mathrm{p}}$ (B) and E(${\mathrm{k}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\parallel}}}$ ).