Tunneling escape process from a spin-polarized two-dimensional electron system

In this work, we have numerically integrated in space and time the effective-mass nonlinear Schrödinger equation for an electron wave packet in a double barrier heterostructure. Considering both polarized and unpolarized magnetic phases, we have studied the tunneling escape process from the two-dimensional electron gas. Due to the nonlinear effective-mass equation, it is found that the charge trapped dynamically in the quantum well produces a reaction field, which modifies the tunneling escape process in the quantum well. At different electronic sheet densities, we have shown the possibility of having magnetic phase-dependent tunneling rates. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd.