A surface optical phonon assisted transition in a semi-infinite superlattice with a cap layer

Using the transfer matrix method and Fermi's golden rule, we calculate the intersubband transition rates between surface electronic states due to different surface optical phonon modes (SOPMs) for a semi-infinite superlattice (SL) with a cap layer in the dielectric continuum approximation. The influence of various structural configurations on surface electron-phonon scattering is given in detail. The calculated results show that the surface electron-phonon scattering rates are markedly influenced by the magnitude of the in-plane electronic wave vector k(parallel to) and have a complicated dependence on the constituent layers of the SL, the substrate as well as the cap layer. It is found that the magnitude of in-gap electron transition rates essentially depends on the attenuation length of the localized electronic states and SOPMs.