Abstract
We develop a theoretical model to analyze a nonequilibrium optical- (LO-) phonon population by Raman scattering in GaAs/As quantum wells. With the assumption of bulklike hot-electron relaxation, the effect of LO-phonon confinement on a nonequilibrium optical-phonon population (NOP) is isolated. Our analysis shows that the decrease in spatial extent or coherence length of LO phonons is reflected by a decrease in NOP. This is because the contributions from large q wave vectors with small occupation numbers dominate as the spatial extent decreases. Our method is applied to explain picosecond Raman-scattering experiments on GaAs/As. The increasing NOP with decreasing x is interpreted as the result of an increase in the coherence length of LO phonons, since for smaller x, the As barrier is no longer effective in localizing GaAs LO phonons within the well. Using this model, we also deduce coherence length of LO phonons as a function of x. Our results show that for values of x between 0.2 and 0.4, the GaAs LO phonon in GaAs/As quantum wells changes from a bulklike propagating mode to one localized within the wells. © 1996 The American Physical Society.
- Received 18 April 1996
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.54.10742
©1996 American Physical Society