open-quotes Hotclose quotes - Electron laser using a Bragg reflection of electrons

Authors of paper (1) have suggested developing FEL which uses hot ballistic electrons in a superlattices under the assumption that the superlattices is short, equivalently, one would be dealing with the motion of electrons within a single band. The single-band model is valid if the reflection coefficient of the superlattices less unit. In the present paper analyze a open-quote hotclose quotes-ballistic-electron laser under the condition that there is a Bragg reflection of electrons from the superlattices or, equivalently, under the condition that the energy of a hot electron is close to the bottom of one of the quasibands of the superlattices. In this case the interaction of the electron with the superlattices is not weak and the reflection coefficient is approximately unit. If the photon energy is greater than the width of the quasigap open-quotes verticalclose quotes transitions can occur between the edges of neighboring quasibands, corresponding to a stimulated emission. If the lower quasiband is not filled, there would be essentially no absorption. The IR gain in the area 0.1-0.4 eV is approximately 100 %. The possibility of experimentally observing the effect is discussed for realistic values of the parameters of the superlattices and of the injected electron beam