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Tunnelling in k ‐Space. The Case of Time‐Varying Electric Field
Author(s) -
Dargys A.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
physica status solidi (b)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1521-3951
pISSN - 0370-1972
DOI - 10.1002/pssb.2221430227
Subject(s) - rabi cycle , physics , rabi frequency , atomic physics , electric field , photon , stark effect , oscillation (cell signaling) , phonon , amplitude , quantum , condensed matter physics , laser , quantum mechanics , chemistry , biochemistry
Intervalence transitions between light and heavy mass subbands due to strong time‐varying electric fields are analyzed within the effective mass framework in two limiting cases, when the spin‐orbit interaction is weak and strong. Explicit formulae for the resonance lineshape, lineshift, and frequency of quantum mechanical Rabi oscillations are presented for one‐ and two‐photon absorption. The relationship between the detuning and the amplitude of Rabi oscillations is found to have exactly the same form, as in two‐level atomic systems. In case of p‐type germanium the Rabi oscillation period becomes comparable to the optical phonon scattering time at an intensity of the CO 2 ‐laser of 5 MW/cm 2 . The conditions for the observation of Rabi oscillations are especially favourable at small energies of light quanta, when optical phonon emission due to energy conservation is forbidden. By this reason in p‐type semiconductors at strong time‐varying electric fields the non‐linear quantum effects similar to those found in two‐level atomic systems e.g. photon echos, self‐induced transparency etc., are expected to be observable as well.