- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine

Physical Review B

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

Multisubband plasmons in an InAs/GaSb broken-gap quantum well

Wojciech Julian Pasek1,*, Soufiane Hajji2,†, Oussama Tata1, Laurent Cerutti2, Fernando Gonzalez-posada Flores2, Simon Hurand3, Abdelouahed El Fatimy1, and Thierry Taliercio2,‡

  • *Contact author: wojciech.pasek@um6p.ma
  • †Contact author: soufiane.hajji@umontpellier.fr
  • ‡Contact author: thierry.taliercio@umontpellier.fr
PDF

Phys. Rev. B 112, 205412 – Published 12 November, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/rq1z-6sg7

Abstract

Multisubband plasmon (MSP) modes in heavily doped InAs/GaSb broken-gap quantum wells grown via molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) are investigated. An eight-band k⃗·p⃗ semiclassical model accurately predicts ellipsometric spectra, reflecting strong subband hybridization and nonparabolicity. In contrast, single-band plasmon models show qualitative discrepancies with experiment, even with adjusted effective masses. These findings highlight the potential of broken-gap wells for quantum technologies leveraging interband coupling and wavefunction hybridization.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (39)

  1. K.-K. Choi, The Physics of Quantum Well Infrared Photodetectors (World Scientific, Singapore, 1997), Vol. 7.
  2. J. Li and C. Z. Ning, Interplay of collective excitations in quantum-well intersubband resonances, Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 097401 (2003).
  3. J. Cao, Interband impact ionization and nonlinear absorption of terahertz radiation in semiconductor heterostructures, Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 237401 (2003).
  4. M. Montes Bajo, J.-M. Chauveau, A. Vasanelli, A. Delteil, Y. Todorov, C. Sirtori, and A. Hierro, Perspectives and opportunities with multisubband plasmonics, J. Appl. Phys. 134, 010901 (2023).
  5. Y. Todorov, L. Tosetto, A. Delteil, A. Vasanelli, C. Sirtori, A. M. Andrews, and G. Strasser, Polaritonic spectroscopy of intersubband transitions, Phys. Rev. B 86, 125314 (2012).
  6. Y. Todorov and C. Sirtori, Intersubband polaritons in the electrical dipole gauge, Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter Mater. Phys. 85, 045304 (2012).
  7. Y. Todorov, Dipolar quantum electrodynamics theory of the three-dimensional electron gas, Phys. Rev. B 89, 075115 (2014).
  8. G. Pegolotti, A. Vasanelli, Y. Todorov, and C. Sirtori, Quantum model of coupled intersubband plasmons, Phys. Rev. B 90, 035305 (2014).
  9. B. Askenazi, A. Vasanelli, A. Delteil, Y. Todorov, L. C. Andreani, G. Beaudoin, I. Sagnes, and C. Sirtori, Ultra-strong light–matter coupling for designer Reststrahlen band, New J. Phys. 16, 043029 (2014).
  10. Y. Todorov, Dipolar quantum electrodynamics of the two-dimensional electron gas, Phys. Rev. B 91, 125409 (2015).
  11. A. Vasanelli, S. Huppert, A. Haky, T. Laurent, Y. Todorov, and C. Sirtori, Semiconductor quantum plasmonics, Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 187401 (2020).
  12. F. Alpeggiani and L. C. Andreani, Semiclassical theory of multisubband plasmons: Nonlocal electrodynamics and radiative effects, Phys. Rev. B 90, 115311 (2014).
  13. M. Montes Bajo, J. Tamayo-Arriola, M. Hugues, J. M. Ulloa, N. Le Biavan, R. Peretti, F. H. Julien, J. Faist, J.-M. Chauveau, and A. Hierro, Multisubband plasmons in doped ZnO quantum wells, Phys. Rev. Appl. 10, 024005 (2018).
  14. W. J. Pasek, C. Deimert, P. Goulain, J.-M. Manceau, R. Colombelli, and Z. R. Wasilewski, Multisubband plasmons: Beyond the parabolicity in the semiclassical model, Phys. Rev. B 106, 115303 (2022).
  15. R. H. Dicke, Coherence in spontaneous radiation processes, Phys. Rev. 93, 99 (1954).
  16. Z. Loghmari, M. Bahriz, A. Meguekam, H. Nguyen Van, R. Teissier, and A. N. Baranov, Continuous wave operation of InAs-based quantum cascade lasers at 20µm, Appl. Phys. Lett. 115, 151101 (2019).
  17. D. A. Díaz-Thomas, D. Ayache, M. Fagot, Z. Loghmari, A. Gilbert, Y. Rouillard, A. N. Baranov, J.-B. Rodriguez, E. Tournié, A. Vicet, and L. Cerutti, Single mode, distributed feedback interband cascade lasers grown on Si for gas sensing, Appl. Phys. Lett. 126, 031102 (2025).
  18. M. Bouschet, V. Arounassalame, A. Ramiandrasoa, J.-P. Perez, N. Péré-Laperne, I. Ribet-Mohamed, and P. Christol, Electro-optical performance and anisotropic transport study of a Ga-free type-II superlattice barrier structure, Opto-Electron. Rev. 31, e144549 (2023).
  19. C. Avogadri, S. Gebert, S. S. Krishtopenko, I. Castillo, C. Consejo, S. Ruffenach, C. Roblin, C. Bray, Y. Krupko, S. Juillaguet, S. Contreras, A. Wolf, F. Hartmann, S. Höfling, G. Boissier, J.-B. Rodriguez, S. Nanot, E. Tournié, F. Teppe, and B. Jouault, Large inverted band gap in strained three-layer InAs/GaInSb quantum wells, Phys. Rev. Res. 4, L042042 (2022).
  20. T. Taliercio, V. N. Guilengui, L. Cerutti, E. Tournié, and J.-J. Greffet, Brewster “mode” in highly doped semiconductor layers: An all-optical technique to monitor doping concentration, Opt. Express 22, 24294 (2014).
  21. A. Zakharova, S.-T. Yen, and K. A. Chao, Hybridization of electron, light-hole, and heavy-hole states in InAs/GaSb quantum wells, Phys. Rev. B 64, 235332 (2001).
  22. J. A. Woollam and P. G. Snyder, Fundamentals and applications of variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry, Mater. Sci. Eng.: B 5, 279 (1990).
  23. J. Woollam, Guide to Using Wvase® Spectroscopic Ellipsometry Data Acquisition and Analysis Software (JA Woollam Company, Lincoln, NE, 2012).
  24. D. Rönnow, S. Anderson, and G. Niklasson, Surface roughness effects in ellipsometry: comparison of truncated sphere and effective medium models, Opt. Mater. (Amsterdam) 4, 815 (1995).
  25. S. Birner, T. Zibold, T. Andlauer, T. Kubis, M. Sabathil, A. Trellakis, and P. Vogl, Nextnano: general purpose 3-d simulations, IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 54, 2137 (2007).
  26. S. Birner, Modeling of semiconductor nanostructures and semiconductor-electrolyte interfaces, Ph.D. thesis, Verein zur Förderung des Walter-Schottky-Inst. der Techn. Univ. München, 2011.
  27. I. Vurgaftman, J. Meyer, and L. R. Ram-Mohan, Band parameters for III–V compound semiconductors and their alloys, J. Appl. Phys. 89, 5815 (2001).
  28. G. Dresselhaus, A. Kip, and C. Kittel, Cyclotron resonance of electrons and holes in silicon and germanium crystals, Phys. Rev. 98, 368 (1955).
  29. T. Andlauer, Discretization of multiband-kp-Schrödinger equations for multidimensional semiconductor nanostructures, Master's thesis, Walter Schottky Institut and Physics Department, Technische Universität München, Germany, 2004.
  30. S. Birner, S. Hackenbuchner, M. Sabathil, G. Zandler, J. Majewski, T. Andlauer, T. Zibold, R. Morschl, A. Trellakis, and P. Vogl, Modeling of semiconductor nanostructures with nextnano3, Acta Phys. Pol. A 110, 111 (2006).
  31. M. Ehrhardt and T. Koprucki, Multi-Band Effective Mass Approximations, Lecture Notes in Computational Science and Engineering (Springer International Publishing, 2014).
  32. A. Eguiluz and A. Maradudin, Electromagnetic modes of an inversion layer on a semiconductor surface, Ann. Phys. 113, 29 (1978).
  33. However, this may result from the simplified notation of Eq. (54), as the position dependence of m* is explicitly accounted for in [39], which is cited in Ref. [9] as the source for incorporating non-parabolicity.
  34. W. Kohn, Cyclotron resonance and de Haas-van Alphen oscillations of an interacting electron gas, Phys. Rev. 123, 1242 (1961).
  35. A. Haky, Semiconductor Quantum Plasmonics, Ph.D. thesis, Université Paris sciences et lettres, France, 2022.
  36. I. Kissami, R. Basmadjian, O. Chakir, and M. R. Abid, TOUBKAL: a high-performance supercomputer powering scientific research in Africa, J. Supercomp. 81, 1401 (2025).
  37. S. Hajji, Ellipsometry data for Multisubband Plasmons in InAsGaSb Broken Gap Quantum Well, Zenodo (2025), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17333070
  38. Group work, New Semiconductor Materials. Biology systems. Characteristics and Properties (Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, online archive).
  39. R. J. Warburton, C. Gauer, A. Wixforth, J. P. Kotthaus, B. Brar, and H. Kroemer, Intersubband resonances in InAs/AlSb quantum wells: Selection rules, matrix elements, and the depolarization field, Phys. Rev. B 53, 7903 (1996).

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. B 112, 205412– Published 12 November, 2025
  • Received 17 June 2025
  • Revised 30 August 2025
  • Accepted 1 October 2025
Crossmark - Check for updates button
Creative Commons Logo

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation