Tunneling spectroscopy of hole plasmons in a valence-band quantum well.

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We investigate the current-voltage characteristics of a {ital p}-doped resonant tunneling diode. In the voltage range slightly above the bias corresponding to resonant tunneling of holes into the first light-hole subband of the quantum well, we observe two satellite peaks which we attribute to plasmon-assisted tunneling transitions. A theoretical model is presented to account for these peaks. The model is based on the excitation of intrasubband and intersubband heavy-hole plasmons in the quantum well by hot holes injected close to the energy of the first light-hole subband. We also study the behavior of the satellites when a magnetic field is applied either parallel to or perpendicular to the current. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}