Abstract
A simplified microscopic model of optical phonons in dimensionally confined structures is formulated and applied to calculate electron–optical-phonon scattering rates in GaAs/AlAs quantum wells. For this simplified model which circumvents performing a complicated ab initio calculation of the force constants at the interface, it is demonstrated that the resulting dispersion relation and scattering rates for electron–optical-phonon interactions agree very well with those obtained from detailed ab initio studies. It is also shown that for GaAs/AlAs structures, the macroscopic dielectric continuum model provides a good approximation to the scattering rate predicted by the microscopic models.
- Received 17 May 1993
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.48.14671
©1993 American Physical Society