Science and Technology Studies Commons^™

Energy Loss Rate Of A Charged Particle In Hgte/(Hgte, Cdte) Quantum Wells, Qinjun Chen, Yee Sin Ang, Xiaolin Wang, R A. Lewis, Chao Zhang

Yee Sin Ang

The energy loss rate (ELR) of a charged particle in a HgTe/(HgTe, CdTe) quantum well is investigated. We consider scattering of a charged particle by the bulk insulating states in this type of topological insulator. It is found that the ELR characteristics due to the intraband excitation have a linear energy dependence while those due to interband excitation depend on the energy exponentially. An interesting quantitative result is that for a large range of the incident energy, the mean inelastic scattering rate is around a few terahertz.