2D electrons and 2D plasmons in AlGaN/GaN nanostructure under highly non-equilibrium conditions

Abstract

We report on studies of electrically excited non-equilibrium 2D electrons and 2D plasmons in an AlGaN/GaN nanostructure. Optical access to 2D plasmons is provided by means of a metal grating fabricated at the nanostructure surface, while the properties of 2D electrons are examined in the samples without metal grating. The paper focuses on the creation of highly non-equilibrium conditions when the effective temperature of 2D electrons is much higher than the crystal lattice temperature. Such conditions are realized by applying short electrical pulses with a low repetition frequency. A method has been developed for independently determining the temperature of hot electrons and the temperature of the crystal lattice under an applied electric field. It has been shown that under highly non-equilibrium conditions the spectral density of terahertz electroluminescence of 2D plasmons can significantly exceed that of 2D electrons at a certain frequency.