Electron mobility and terahertz absorption due to interactions with confined acoustic phonons in a free-standing quantum well

Electron transport and optical parameters of a free-standing quantum well are studied theoretically. Electron interactions with photons and confined acoustic phonons through the deformation potential are treated rigorously. The quantum kinetic equation for the electron distribution function is solved numerically for nondegenerate as well as degenerate electron gases and the electron momentum relaxation time, the electron mobility and the absorption coefficient in terahertz range are obtained. Both the electron transport and optical parameters exhibit peculiarities, related to the confined acoustic phonon spectrum. They are displayed as peaks at the electron momentum relaxation time dependence on energy and at the second derivative of the absorption coefficient over photon energy. The positions of the peaks is associated with the energies of confined acoustic phonons.