Collective excitations in truncated semiconductor superlattices in a transverse magnetic field

Abstract

We consider the propagation of bulk and surface magnetoplasmons in a semi-infinite superlattice structure composed of alternating materials A and B. Implicit general dispersion relations for bulk and surface magnetoplasmons are derived allowing the dielectric tensor (\ensuremath{\epsilon}\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}) of each material to be a function of frequency and magnetic field (${\mathrm{B}}_{0}$). The external magnetic field is taken to be parallel to the superlattice axis (or perpendicular to the interfaces). The nonradiative magnetoplasma modes (polaritons) are characterized by the electromagnetic fields which decay exponentially away from the interfaces. We present numerical results for a number of illustrative cases including the effect of retardation.