Electronic states, pseudo-spin, and transport in the zinc-blende quantum wells and wires with vanishing band gap

Abstract

We consider theoretically the electronic structure of quasi-two and quasi-one-dimensional heterostructures comprised of III-V and II-VI semiconductors such as InAs/GaInSb and HgCdTe. We show that not only a Dirac-like dispersion exists in these materials when the energy gap approaches zero, but that the states with opposite momentum are orthogonal (i.e. can be described by a pseudo-spin), which suppresses backscattering and thereby enhances the electron mobility, by analogy with the case of graphene. However, unlike in graphene, a quasi-one-dimensional quantum wire with zero gap can be realized, which should eliminate most of the scattering processes and lead to long coherence lengths required for both conventional and ballistic electronic devices.