Suppression of the coherent charge oscillations in coupled quantum wells by an in-plane magnetic field

A magnetic field H applied parallel to the layers of a double-quantum-well system (DQWs) modifies the energy spectrum of the electrons, giving rise to a suppression of tunnel coupling of the electron scales. Damping of the coherent charge oscillations in DQWs due to this effect is considered theoretically. A significant damping appears at H>H-0, where H-0 similar to 1 T for typical parameters of the DQWs and excitation pulse. Two regimes of the damping are described: a small magnetic field (H similar to H-0) modifies both the amplitude and temporal evolution of the electron density, while a high field (H much greater than H-0) suppresses the amplitude, but has no effect on the temporal evolution. In this last case, the oscillations show nonharmonic Bessel-like behavior and their period is determined only by the tunnel coupling energy. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.