Dielectric Properties of the Quasi-Two-Dimensional Electron Liquid in Heterojunctions

Abstract

A quasi-two-dimensional (Q2D) electron liquid (EL) is formed at the interface of a semiconductor heterojunction. For an accurate characterization of the Q2D EL, many-body effects need to be taken into account beyond the random phase approximation. In this theoretical work, the self-consistent static local-field correction known as STLS is applied for the analysis of the Q2D EL. The penetration of the charge distribution to the barrier-acting material is taken into consideration through a variational approach. The Coulomb from factor that describes the effective 2D interaction is rigorously treated. The longitudinal dielectric function and the plasmon dispersion of the Q2D EL are presented for a wide range of electron and ionized acceptor densities choosing GaAs/AlGaAs as the physical system. Analytical expressions fitted to our results are also supplied to enable a widespread use of these results.