Hot Electron Energy Relaxation in Quantum Wells

We present experimental results on hot electron relaxation in doped bulk GaAs and quantum wells. Using steady state photoluminescence we measured the electron -LO phonon scattering time for thermalized hot electrons in quantum wells. The results are in good agreement with our theoretical calculation of electron-LO phonon interaction in two dimensional systems. Within random phase approximation, the emitted LO phonons may couple to two dimensional plasmons. Both the screening and phonon reabsorption properties can be drastically changed as a function of electron density, temperature and phonon lifetime. Theoretical energy relaxation rates, including dynamical screening and phonon reabsorption effects, will be presented. For hot electrons with energies well above the LO phonon energy, we developed a two-beam, lock-in technique to measure the energy-resolved cooling rate. In the case of quantum wells, hot electrons relax at a constant rate. For heavily doped bulk GaAs, the relaxation rate is inversely proportional to electron kinetic energy. The new method demonstrates itself as a valuable way to study the fast initial relaxation which would otherwise need femtosecond pulse laser techniques.