Abstract: In the limit of strong electron-phonon coupling, we use either a Pekar-type or an oscillator wave function for the center-of-mass coordinate and either a Coulomb or an oscillator wave function for the relative coordinate, and are able to reproduce all the results from the literature for the large-bipolaron binding energy. Lower bounds are constructed for the critical ratio eta(c) of dielectric constants below which bipolarons can exist. It is found that, in the strong-coupling limit, the stability region for bipolaron formation is much larger in two dimensions (2D) than in 3D. We introduce a model that combines the averaging of the relative coordinate over the asymptotically best wave function with a path-integral treatment of the center-of-mass motion. The stability region for bipolaron formation is increased compared with the full path-integral treatment at large values of the coupling constant alpha. The critical values are alpha(c) almost-equal-to 9.3 in 3D and alpha(c) almost-equal-to 4.5 in 2D. Phase diagrams for the presented models are also obtained in both 2D and 3D.

Abstract: A combination of infrared spectroscopy and magnetotransport is used to investigate the impurity band and the magnetic-field-induced metal-insulator transition in n-type GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs superlattices. The dropping of the Fermi level from the conduction band into the impurity band upon increasing magnetic field is observed in a sample doped to n=4n(c), where n(c) is the critical density according to the Mott criterion. The metal-insulator transition takes place while the Fermi level is in the impurity band, with no qualitative change from the metallic to the insulating side. Due to the anisotropy of the superlattice band structure, the metal-insulator transition is shifted to higher magnetic field, when the magnetic field is tilted away from the growth axis towards the layer planes.

Abstract: The temperature-dependent giant magnetoresistance effect is investigated in a magnetically modulated two-dimensional electron gas, which can be realized by depositing two parallel ferromagnets on the top and bottom of a heterostructure. The effective potential for electrons arising for parallel magnetization allows the electrons to resonantly tunnel through the magnetic barriers, while this is excluded in the anti-parallel situation. Such a discrepancy results in a giant magnetoresistance ratio (MRR), which can be up to 10(31)%. The MRR shows a strong dependence on temperature, but our study indicates that for realistic parameters for a GaAs heterostructure the effect can be as high as 10(4)% at 4 K.