Quantization of Acoustoelectric Current in a Ballistic Channel.

The electric current induced by an ultrasonic phonon flux in a ballistic quasi-two-dimensional quantum channel is investigated theoretically. Two types of confining potential are considered. An analytic expression for the acoustoelectric current is derived, and its dependence on the chemical potential and on the magnitude of the longitudinal magnetic field is investigated. It is shown that the dependence of the acoustoelectric current on the chemical potential may be of the experimentally observed step type. The oscillatory dependence of the acoustoelectric current on the magnetic field is considered for the cases of weak and strong magnetic quantization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]