We present linear-muffin-tin-orbital calculations of the energy band s
tructure and of the density of states of semimetal-conductor superlatt
ices made of rare earth arsenide (ErAs and YbAs) and GaAs. The effect
of size quantization and the possibility of a semimetal-semiconductor
transition is studied by varying the number of rare earth arsenide mon
olayers buried in GaAs. We find that indeed a gap opens up in the band
structure for the case of a single monolayer of YbAs embedded in GaAs
, albeit well above the Fermi energy. The chances to induce a transiti
on to a semiconductor are discussed. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Scien
ce Ltd