On the band spectrum in p-type HgTe/CdHgTe heterostructures and its transformation under temperature variation

Abstract

The magnetoabsorption and interband photoconductivity spectra of HgTe/CdHgTe quantum wells exhibiting p-type conductivity are studied at different temperatures. It is shown that, for a sample with a normal band structure, the long-wavelength edge of the spectra shifts to higher energies with temperature increase, indicating an increase of the band gap in the quantum well. For a sample with an inverted band structure, it is for the first time found that the long-wavelength cut-off shifts to lower energies due to the topological phase transition from the inverted band structure to the normal structure with temperature increase. The experimental data are in agreement with the results of theoretical band-structure calculations based on the Kane model.