Minibands and Wannier-Stark ladders in semiconductor superlattices studied by infrared spectroscopy

We review the basic features of interminiband absorption in superlattices, focussing on the joint density of states, the oscillator strength and the associated sum rule. Then we will discuss infrared spectroscopic studies under application of an electric field. With a field in the plane of the layers, a hot-electron distribution can he generated. Using the temperature dependence of the interminiband absorption, energy loss and relaxation rates can be determined. A vertical electric field leads to negative differential resistance, domain formation and the break-up of the minibands into Wannier-Stark ladders. We will present experiments showing the formation of interpenetrating Wannier-Stark ladders in the continuum, which are strongly coupled by Zener resonances. This is the first time to correlate transport and infrared absorption in a biased superlattice.