Plasmon recombination in narrowgap HgTe quantum wells

Abstract

Abstract The dispersion laws of two-dimensional plasmons in narrow-gap HgTe/CdHgTe quantum wells are calculated taking into account the spatial dispersion of the electron susceptibility. At the energy scale of the band gap the dependence of plasmon frequencies on the wave vector is shown to be close to linear that changes significantly the critical concentration of noneqilibrium electron-hole gas corresponding to ‘switching-on’ the carrier recombination with plasmon emission. The recombination rates with the plasmon emission have been calculated. The ‘plasmon’ recombination is shown to dominate at the carrier concentration over (1.2–2) 1011 cm−2 in a 5-nm-wide HgTe quantum well (band gap of 35 meV) that makes plasmon generation (spasing) in THz frequency range feasible.