A Metamaterial-Inspired Model for Electron Waves in Bulk Semiconductors

Mario G. Silveirinha, Nader Engheta

Published 2012-05-15, updated 2012-08-30Version 2

Based on an analogy with electromagnetic metamaterials, we develop an effective medium description for the propagation of electron matter waves in bulk semiconductors with a zincblende structure. It is formally demonstrated that even though departing from a different starting point, our theory gives results for the energy stationary states consistent with Bastard's envelope function approximation in the long-wavelength limit. Using the proposed approach, we discuss the time evolution of a wave packet in a bulk semiconductor with a zero-gap and linear energy-momentum dispersion.