Tunneling transport in semiconductor nanostructures considering the presence of a weak time-dependent electromagnetic field: Lewis–Riesenfeld approach

A quantum-mechanical theory of electron transport in semiconductor resonance-tunneling structures is proposed under the condition that the tunneling process is influenced by a weak time-dependent electromagnetic field and an external constant electric field. The theory is developed by constructing exact solutions of the complete Schrödinger equation using the Lewis–Riesenfeld method adapted to quasistationary states. Resonance energies and resonance widths of quasistationary electronic states and their evolution in time are studied using the parameters of the active zone of a quantum cascade laser. By performing calculations of the transparency coefficient of the nanosystem at different moments in time, which are caused by relaxation processes, the decay processes of electronic quasistationary states in the investigated nanosystem are analyzed, and the mechanisms of this process are established.