Relaxation of hot electrons in a degenerate two-dimensional electron system: transition to one-dimensional scattering

TL;DR

This study investigates how hot electrons relax energy in a degenerate 2D electron system, revealing a transition to 1D scattering under strong magnetic fields and identifying the LO phonon energy in GaAs with high precision.

Contribution

It demonstrates a transition from 2D to quasi-1D electron scattering in a mesoscopic device and precisely measures the LO phonon energy in GaAs at cryogenic temperatures.

Findings

Transition from 2D to 1D scattering with magnetic field

Electron-electron scattering dominates at zero field

Optical phonon emission increases with magnetic field

Abstract

The energy relaxation channels of hot electrons far from thermal equilibrium in a degenerate two-dimensional electron system are investigated in transport experiments in a mesoscopic three-terminal device. We observe a transition from two dimensions at zero magnetic field to quasi--one-dimensional scattering of the hot electrons in a strong magnetic field. In the two-dimensional case electron-electron scattering is the dominant relaxation mechanism, while the emission of optical phonons becomes more and more important as the magnetic field is increased. The observation of up to 11 optical phonons emitted per hot electron allows us to determine the onset energy of LO phonons in GaAs at cryogenic temperatures with a high precision, $\eph=36.0\pm0.1\,$meV. Numerical calculations of electron-electron scattering and the emission of optical phonons underline our interpretation in terms of a transition to one-dimensional dynamics.