# Negative polarizability of 2D electrons in HgTe quantum well

## TL;DR

This paper calculates the polarizability of electrons in HgTe quantum wells and finds it to be negative, which can significantly reduce the dielectric constant of the material.

## Contribution

It introduces the concept of negative polarizability in 2D electrons within HgTe quantum wells, a novel finding in this context.

## Key findings

- Electron polarizability in the quantum well is negative.
- Negative polarizability can decrease the dielectric constant by 10-15%.
- The study provides theoretical insights into electron behavior in HgTe quantum wells.

## Abstract

The polarizability of electrons occupying the lowest subband of spatial quantization in CdTe/Cd$_x$Hg$_{1-x}$Te/CdTe quantum wells is calculated. It is shown that polarizability in the quantum well without cadmium is negative, i.e., the displacement of an electron in an electric field applied perpendicularly to the quantum well plane is opposite to the force acting on it. The negative polarizability of 2D electrons can reduce the dielectric constant of quantum wells by up to $(10-15)$ percent.