Rabi oscillations in semiconductor superlattices

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics of a semiconductor superlattice driven by an ac electric field by solving numerically the one-dimensional time-dependent Schro¨dinger equation including interface roughness effects. Rabi oscillations between minibands are clearly identified under resonant conditions, but we show that their lifetime is controlled by a characteristic time that depends on the superlattice deviation from perfection and is independent of the electric field. Experiments for the observation of the predicted effects are proposed.