Giant Quantum Oscillations of Acoustoelectric Effect in Nanostructures

Self-induced acoustic transparency in semiconductor quantum films

We develop a quantum theory of the nonlinear interaction between intense surface acoustic waves and electrons in a quantum well in the regime of moving quantum wires and dots. In the quantum nonlinear regime, the sound attenuation exhibits quantum oscillations and dramatically decreases with increasing quantization. In the case of dynamically created electron dots formed by two acoustic waves, the waves can propagate without any dissipation in the limit of high sound intensity and, hence, the electron quantum film acts as an acoustically quasitransparent material.

Acoustoelectric current and pumping in a ballistic quantum point contact

The acoustoelectric current induced by a surface acoustic wave (SAW) in a ballistic quantum point contact is considered using a quantum approach. We find that the current is of the "pumping" type and is not related to drag, i.e., to the momentum transfer from the wave to the electron gas. At gate voltages corresponding to the plateaus of the quantized conductance the current is small. It is peaked at the conductance step voltages. The peak current oscillates and decays with increasing SAW wave number for short wavelengths. These results contradict previous calculations, based on the classical Boltzmann equation.