Theory of dispersion instabilities associated with surface electromagnetic waves in layered semiconductor media

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Abstract
A theoretical investigation has been made of electromagnetic waves in a two-layer semiconductor system in the presence of a static electric field parallel to the interface. The dispersion relation is obtained using the specular-reflection approach of Kliewer and Fuchs, taking into account retardation and carrier damping. Numerical solutions of the dispersion relation are presented for both retarded and nonretarded cases. These calculations indicate that an interaction takes place between space-charge waves of adjacent media. In some instances, this interaction gives rise to amplifying instabilities. The calculations including retardation show a space-charge-wave–electromagnetic-wave interaction, which results in an evanescent wave localized at the interface.