Theory of magnetoplasmons in semiconductor superlattices in the Faraday geometry: a Green-function approach

Abstract

We investigate the collective excitations of magnetoplasma in the semiconductor superlattices in the presence of an external magnetic field using a Green's function (or, response function) theory. The applied magnetic field is taken to be parallel to the interfaces and to the direction of propagation. The constituent layers are assumed to be of moderate thickness so that “quantum size effects” can be ignored. The material layers are characterized by magnetic field- and frequency-dependent dielectric tensors. The magnetoplasma excitations are defined such that the associated electromagnetic fields are localized at and decay exponentially away from the interfaces. The response theory applied for the first time to investigate the magnetoplasmons in these periodic systems leads one to calculate the corresponding response functions associated with the electromagnetic fields which in turn can be used to derive any physical property of a given system. The relevance of the analytical results to the superlattice systems is pointed out in detail.