Temperature dependence of the inelastic scattering in a GaAs/n-AlGaAs selectively doped heterojunction with InGaAs quantum dots

Inelastic scattering processes of two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) have been investigated in a inverted GaAs/n-AlGaAs heterojunction with self-organized InGaAs quantum dots (QDs) embedded near the 2DEG channel where the electron population in the QDs is controllable by the gate voltage Vg. By analyzing magnetoresistance, the inelastic scattering time τε have been evaluated as functions of Vg at 0.6, 0.8, 1.2, and 1.7 K. It is found that τε increases with Vg below 0.8 K and decreases above 1.2 K, which suggests that the dominant scattering mechanisms below 0.8 K and above 1.2 K are different. To interpret this behavior, we have calculated the inelastic scattering time theoretically. It is found that the experimental data are well explained by a theoretical model where a 2D electron is considered to be inelastically scattered both by the other 2D electrons and by the trapped electrons in QDs. It is also found that the 2DEG–2DEG scattering is dominant at low temperature, while the 2DEG-QDs scattering becomes important as the temperature increases.