Quantum Theory of Multisubband Plasmon– Phonon Coupling

We present a theoretical description of the coupling between longitudinal optical phonons and collective excitations of a two-dimensional electron gas. By diagonalizing the Hamiltonian of the system, including Coulomb electron–electron and Fröhlich interactions, we observe the formation of multisubband polarons, mixed states partially phonon and partially multisubband plasmon, characterized by a coupling energy which is a significant fraction, up to ∼ 40 % , of the phonon energy. We demonstrate that multisubband plasmons and longitudinal optical phonons are in the ultra-strong coupling regime in several III–V and II–VI material systems.