Quenching of persistent photoconductivity by electrical pulses

The changes produced in the properties of a low-dimensional electron gas in heterostructures at liquid-helium temperatures by electric pulses of different amplitudes and different durations were investigated. It is shown that the parameters of low-dimensional electrons and the geometric dimensions of the conducting channel in submicron quantum wires can be controlled by applying short electric pulses to the structure. It is demonstrated that electric and light pulses produce opposite changes in the properties of the electron gas, which makes it legitimate to speak of the quenching of persistent conductivity. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.