We have studied the effect of an external magnetic field on electron-acoustic phonon scattering in rectangular quantum wires taking into account both electron and phonon confinement. A magnetic field has two major effects: (i) it dramatically quenches (by several orders of magnitude) intrasubband scattering due to acoustic phonons in hybrid “width” and “thickness” modes, and (ii) it increases electron interaction with evanescent hybrid surface modes that peak at the wire edges. A simple intuitive picture to elucidate the origin of these effects is presented.

• Received 17 July 1997

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.57.4687