Magnetic control of electric-field domains in semiconductor superlattices

Abstract

Applying magnetic fields up to B = 29 T, we investigate the formation of electric-field domains in Landau-quantized semiconductor superlattices. Surprisingly, the electric-field distribution remains determined by the subband spacing rather than by the cyclotron energy. At the domain boundary, however, strong inter-Landau-level tunneling occurs, which leads to a magnetically tunable number of extra resonances in the current-voltage curve. In addition, we discuss a novel magnetic-field assisted high-field domain also stabilized by inter-Landau-level tunneling. © 1998 American Physical Society.