Quantum Confinement of Charge Carriers in GaAs/AlGaAs Heterostructures

Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) travel on the surface of a material and have an amplitude that decays exponentially with increasing depth. By fine tuning the design of a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure containing several quantum wells we can align the antinodes of the wave with the location of 2-dimensional electron gases. These waves are generated by high frequency lasers shining on an interference patterned tuned to the lasers repetition rate at ~76 MHz or by using interdigitated transducers on the surface. The epitaxial growth and concentration calibrations of the structure is discussed. Possible applications include energy conversion technology and encryption systems