Inhomogeneous broadening of intersubband transitions due to nonscreening roughness of heterointerfaces

The shape of the terahertz absorption peak in quantum wells with rough heterointerfaces is studied. Although the long-range variations of the ground level are screened in heavily doped structures, the intersubband in-plane energy remains nonuniform due to the second-level variations. The equation for intersubband polarization is considered in the resonant approximation, taking into account the depolarization shift. The line shape of the intersubband absorption peak is described for the case with long-range variations of heterointerfaces.