Institute of Fundamental Technological Research

We report the theoretical study of the optical response of a periodically modulated two-dimensional electron gas. The density of states is calculated within the first order of the perturbation theory and the effects of the short-range disorder are explained and discussed. We demonstrate that the magnetic field values corresponding to the characteristic narrowing of the density of states width are given by the zeros of the subsequent Laguerre polynomials. The observed increase of the density of states at the edges are interpreted as van Hove singularities. The broadening effects are shown to modify and smear out the observed effects with increasing temperature above 2 K. The plasmon dispersion relation is discussed in terms of the random phase approximation. Small changes in plasmon dispersion relation related to the periodic modulation were predicted.