Hot carriers in quasi - 2D polar semiconductors.

This article reviews hot carrier effects in quasi-2D polar semiconductors (quantum wells and heterostructures), with special emphasis on the GaAs/AlGaAs system. After briefly introducing the basic concepts in hot carrier physics, we discuss theoretical calculations of carrier-phonon interactions and hot carrier energy loss rates to the lattice in quasi-2D systems. 

We then discuss how these quantities are affected by degeneracy, plasma effects and hot phonons. The bulk of the article is devoted to a discussion of experimental results and their analysis.