Quasi-particle Propagation Across Semiconductor–Mott Insulator Interfaces

Abstract As a prototypical example for a heterostructure combining a weakly and a strongly interacting quantum many-body system, we study the interface between a semiconductor and a Mott insulator. Via the hierarchy of correlations, we derive and match the propagating or evanescent (quasi) particle solutions on both sides and assume that the interactions among the electrons in the semiconducting regions can be absorbed by an effective potential. While the propagation is described by a band-like dispersion in both the weakly and the strongly interacting case, the inverse decay length across the interface follows a different dependence on the band gap in the Mott insulator and the semiconductor. As one consequence, tunnelling through a Mott insulating layer behaves quite differently from a semiconducting (or band insulating) layer. For example, we find a strong suppression of tunnelling for energies in the middle between the upper and lower Hubbard band of the Mott insulator.