Electric control of the bandgap in quantum wells with band-inverted junctions. (2nd November 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Díaz-Fernández, A; Chico, Leonor; Domínguez-Adame, F
• Is Part Of: Journal of physics. Volume 29:Number 47(2017)
• Publication Date: 2017-11-02
• Subjects: band inversion -- Stark effect -- quantum well; Condensed matter -- Periodicals; Matière condensée -- Périodiques; Vaste stoffen; Vloeistoffen; Natuurkunde; Electronic journals; Computer network resources; 530.4105
• DOI: 10.1088/1361-648X/aa91a6
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0953-8984

Abstract

Abstract: In IV–VI semiconductor heterojunctions with band-inversion, such as those made of P b 1 − x S n x Te or P b 1 − x S n x Se, interface states are properly described by a two-band model, predicting the appearance of a Dirac cone in single junctions. However, in quantum wells the interface dispersion is quadratic in momentum and the energy spectrum presents a gap. We show that the interface gap shrinks under an electric field parallel to the growth direction. Therefore, the interface gap can be dynamically tuned in experiments on double-gated quantum wells based on band-inverted compounds.