An explicit FDM calculation of nonparabolicity effects in energy states of quantum wells

An explicit finite difference method (FDM) to solve the nonparabolic effective mass approximation of Schrodinger wave equation (SWE) for arbitrary quantum wells (QWs) is presented. The explicit nature of the presented method and its sparse matrices allow fast computation for energy states in QWs. The nonparabolicity effects are considered explicitly without iteration. This in turn results in faster and more stable calculations. The method is used to study the nonparabolicity effects in energy states and states overlapping in asymmetric AlGaAs/GaAs QWs.     

Quantum dots in quantum well structures

Recent progress toward fabricating and characterizing quantum dots in III–V quantum well structures is reviewed. Quantum dots made by use of lithography and etching, including deep-etched, barrier-modulated, strain-induced and interdiffused quantum dots, are described. Quantum dots fabricated by growth, including natural quantum dots, dots on patterned substrates, and self-assembled dots, are discussed. Dot sizes and uniformity, energy-level splittings, and luminescence efficiencies that are now being achieved are discussed. The status of key issues, such as the energy relaxation in quantum dots, is mentioned.     

Lifetime analysis of quasibound states in coupled quantum wells

A simple time-dependent model is presented to investigate lifetimes of the quasibound states in coupled quantum wells (CQWs). The transfer matrix approach is employed to discretize the conduction-band profile of the heterostructure and form a dispersion equation whose zeros correspond to the complex eigenenergies. Both the bound and quasibound states are extracted numerically in the complex plane by Newton's method. The lower and higher well subbands are found to have negative and positive energy shift, respectively, as following the no level crossing theorem. Besides, the decay rate of the quasibound state is approximately proportional to the absolute energy shift. The quasibound states, which have larger energy shift, have shorter lifetime and decay more quickly. Furthermore, the differences in lifetime between the quasibound states in CQWs can be easily realized as all the wave functions are specially adjusted to form the relative probability density distributions.     

Many-body effects on intersubband resonances in narrow InAs/AlSb quantum wells

Intersubband polarization couples to collective excitations of the interacting electron gas confined in a semiconductor quantum well (QW) structure. Such excitations include correlated pair excitations (repellons) and intersubband plasmons. The oscillator strength of intersubband resonances (ISBRs) strongly varies with QW parameters and electron density because of this coupling. Using the intersubband semiconductor Bloch equations for a two-conduction-subband model, we show that intersubband absorption spectra for narrow wells are dominated by the Fermi-edge singularity (via coupling to repellons) when the electron gas becomes degenerate and in the presence of large nonparabolicity. Thus the resonance peak position appears at the Fermi edge and the peak is greatly narrowed, enhanced, and red shifted as compared to the free particle result. Our results uncover a new perspective for ISBRs and indicate the necessity of proper many-body theoretical treatment in order for modeling and prediction of ISBR line shape.     

Material parameters of InGaAsP and InAlGaAs systems for use in quantum well structures at low and room temperatures

The set of material parameters for quantum well structures is of immense importance because of its usage in the development of theories, extraction of experimental data, and the proper design of devices. In particular, the (Al,In)GaAs/GaAs, InGaAs/InP and (In,Ga)AlAs/InGaAs quantum well systems have drawn a lot of attention. They form the center core of materials used for fundamental basic research and device applications. Despite the presence of some review articles and reference books, there is a lack of clear reference on the accurate determination of the material parameters for quantum wells. This review aims to provide a comprehensive and systematic set of material parameters for the above quantum well systems grown on (1 0 0) substrates at two different temperatures, below 10 K and at around 300 K. The parameters are compared against experimental data from various fabrication sources, measurement techniques, and quantum well structures. The values presented here serve as an accurate and up to date source of reference.     

Two-electron absorption in a biased quantum well

Linear light absorption of 2D electrons confined within a biased quantum well is studied theoretically. We demonstrate that for light polarization perpendicular to the 2D plane, in addition to conventional absorption peak at frequency ω≈Δ, where Δ is the intersubband energy distance, there exists a peak around a double frequency ω≈2Δ. This additional peak is entirely due to electron–electron interactions, and corresponds to excitation of two electrons by one photon. The magnitude of two-electron absorption is proportional to U², where U is the applied bias.     

半导体量子阱中束缚离子激子的研究

在多维球坐标体系中,我们对施主为束缚离子激子用二维方法求解薛定谔方程.研究表明,该方法对于半定量分析简便易行,并获得了一个重要的质量比σc=0.512.     

Thermal and thermoelectric behavior of silicon-germanium quantum well structures

Tailoring thermoelectric materials for specific designs and applications has been gaining momentum during past three decades. Initially confined to conventional (bulk) framework an entirely new scenario emerged with inclusion of low-dimensional structures in the scheme of things. The paper examines the effect of size reduction on phonon and electron properties in two-dimensional (quantum well) structures with an aim to maximize thermoelectric performance. The formulation has been applied to silicon-germanium quantum wells with well width ranging from 50–500 ? aimed at finding best alloy combination for thermoelectric applications.     

Charged magneto-exciton states in semiconductor quantum dots

By embedding a layer of self-assembled quantum dots into a field-effect structure, we are able to control the exciton charge in a single dot. We present the results of photoluminescence experiments as a function of both charge and magnetic field. The results demonstrate a hierarchy of energy scales determined by quantization, the direct Coulomb interaction, the electron–electron exchange interaction, and the electron–hole exchange interaction. For excitons up to the triply charged exciton, the behavior can be understood from a model assuming discrete levels within the quantum dot. For the triply charged exciton, this is no longer the case. In a magnetic field, we discover a coherent interaction with the continuum states, the Landau levels associated with the wetting layer.     

Polaronic effects on laser dressed donor impurities in a quantum well

The effect of laser field on the binding energy in a GaAs/Ga1_1−xAl_xAs quantum well within the single band effective mass-approximation is investigated. Exciton binding energy is calculated as a function of well width with the renormalization of the semiconductor gap and conduction valence effective masses. The calculation includes the laser dressing effects on both the impurity Coulomb potential and the confinement potential. The valence-band anisotropy is included in our theoretical model. The 2D Hartree–Fock spatial dielectric function and the polaronic effects have been employed in our calculations. We investigate that reduction of binding energy in a doped quantum well due to screening effect and the intense laser field leads to semiconductor–metal transition.     

Optical properties of GaNAs/GaAs triple quantum well structures

Optical properties of the GaNAs/GaAs triple quantum well structures were characterized by using photoreflectance and photoluminescence spectroscopy at different temperatures. The excitonic interband transitions of the triple quantum well systems were observed in the spectral range above hν=E_g(GaN_xAs_1−x). A matrix transfer algorithm was used to match the GaN_xAs_1−x/GaAs boundary conditions and calculate the triple quantum well subband energies numerically for theoretical comparison. The internal electric field in the system was extracted from Franz-Keldysh oscillations in the photoreflectance spectra. The influences of the annealing treatment on the transition energy and the internal electric field are also analyzed.     

Auger relaxation processes in semiconductor nanocrystals and quantum wells

Auger recombination rates in mesoscopic semiconductor structures have been studied as a function of energy band parameters and heterostructure size. It is shown that nonthreshold Auger processes stimulated by the presence of heteroboundaries become the dominant nonradiative recombination channel in nanometer size semiconductor structures. The size dependence of luminescence quantum yields in nanostructures and microcrystals are discussed. Auger-like collisions of electrons and heavy holes are shown to serve as “accelerators” of thermalization processes in semiconductor quantum dots.     

Hydrostatic pressure effect on the donor impurity states in asymmetric multiple quantum wells

Based on the effective-mass approximation, hydrostatic pressure effect on the donor binding energy in zinc blende (ZB) InGaN/GaN asymmetric multiple quantum wells (AMQWs) is investigated variationally. Numerical results show that the hydrostatic pressure increases the donor binding energy for any impurity position. Moreover, the hydrostatic pressure effect is more noticeable if the impurity is localized inside the wide well of the AMQWs. For any hydrostatic pressure, the donor binding energy is distributed asymmetrically with respect to the center of the AMQWs. In particular, the donor binding energy of impurity located at the center of the wide well of the AMQWs is insensitive to the increment of the inter-well barrier width if the inter-well barrier width is large.     

Contactless electroreflectance spectroscopy of Ga(In)NAs/GaAs quantum well structures containing Sb atoms

Contactless electroreflectance (CER) spectroscopy has been applied to investigate the optical transitions in Ga(In)NAs/GaAs quantum well (QW) structures containing Sb atoms. The identification of the optical transitions has been carried out in accordance with theoretical calculations which have been performed within the framework of the effective mass approximation. Using this method, the bandgap discontinuity for GaN_0.027As_0.863Sb_0.11/GaAs, Ga_0.62In_0.38As_0.954N_0.026Sb_0.02/GaAs, and Ga_0.61In_0.39As_0.963N_0.017Sb_0.02/GaN_0.027As_0.973/GaAs QW structures has been determined. It has been found that the conduction-band offset is ∼50 and ∼80% for GaN_0.027As_0.863Sb_0.11/GaAs and Ga_0.62In_0.38As_0.954N_0.026Sb_0.02/GaAs QWs, respectively. It corresponds to 264 and 296 meV depth QW for electrons and heavy-holes in GaN_0.027As_0.863Sb_0.11/GaAs QW; and 520 and 146 meV depth QW for electrons and heavy-holes in Ga_0.62In_0.38As_0.954N_0.026Sb_0.02/GaAs QW. In the case of the Ga_0.61In_0.39As_0.963N_0.017Sb_0.02/GaN_0.027As_0.973/GaAs step-like QW structure it has been shown that the depth of electron and heavy-hole Ga_0.61In_0.39As_0.963N_0.017Sb_0.02/GaN_0.027As_0.973 QW is ∼144 and ∼127 meV, respectively.     

Spin dynamics and quantum transport in magnetic semiconductor quantum structures

Quantum structures derived from magnetic semiconductors serve as a powerful arena within which to study the interplay between quantum electronics and thin film magnetism. In particular, the semiconductor aspects of these flexible systems allow direct access to the electronic spin degrees of freedom using both magneto-optical as well as magneto-transport probes. Here we provide an overview of recent developments in the experimental study of II–VI magnetic semiconductor quantum structures, with particular emphasis on the dynamical behavior of field-tunable electronic spin states and spin-dependent quantum transport.     

Photoluminescence inner core excitation in semiconductor quantum structures

We introduce a photoluminescence inner core excitation (PLICE) for the studies of semiconductor quantum structures. This novel method, in which we use synchrotron radiation as tunable excitation source, is expected to facilitate us to obtain electronic and compositional information about buried quantum structures. Here we report experimental results on quantum dots (QDs) and quantum wires (QWRs), in order to demonstrate potential applicability of the method to the semiconductor nanostructure studies.     

Femtosecond dynamics of secondary radiation formation from quantum well excitons

The time-resolved secondary emission of resonantly created excitons in GaAs quantum wells is studied using femtosecond up-conversion spectroscopy. The behaviour of the rise and decay of the secondary emission and reflectivity in quantum wells is strongly dependent upon the disorder at the interfaces, the exciton density and the temperature. In the case of low densities and temperatures the emission is independent of the exciton density and rises quadratically in time, in excellent agreement with recent theory for Rayleigh scattering from two-dimensional excitons subjected to disorder. These rise times are compared directly with times measured by time-integrated four-wave mixing (FWM). The comparison of the dynamics displayed in time-resolved secondary radiation and time-integrated FWM provide a clear understanding of the coherence properties of QW excitons in the first few picoseconds after excitation. High-contrast oscillations that are due to quantum beats between the heavy- and light-hole 1s-states are seen. The visibility decay at very low densities is long ps and is related to the action of potential fluctuations on the scattering of heavy-hole and light-hole excitons.     

Hydrogenic impurity ground state in quantum well: the envelope function revisited

We present a new variationnal method for calculating the ground state energy of an electron bound to an impurity located in a quantum well. This method relies on an envelope function which is determined exactly from a formal minimization procedure. The obtained energies are lower by as much as 10% than the ones found by the widely used free electron envelope function. Their large width limits are reached with exponentially small corrections as they should. We also find that, except for narrow wells, the shape of these exact envelope functions strongly depends on the impurity position, being consequently quite different from the usual free electron ones. In order to discuss the improvements brought by our new procedure in the most striking way, we have used a model semiconductor quantum well with infinite barrier height and simplified band structure. Extensions can be made to finite barrier and more realistic band structures, following the same technique. Received 11 December 2000     

Ultimate performance of quantum well infrared photodetectors in the tunneling regime

Thanks to their wavelength diversity and to their excellent uniformity, Quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIP) emerge as potential candidates for astronomical or defense applications in the very long wavelength infrared (VLWIR) spectral domain. However, these applications deal with very low backgrounds and are very stringent on dark current requirements. In this paper, we present the full electro-optical characterization of a 15 μm QWIP, with emphasis on the dark current measurements. Data exhibit striking features, such as a plateau regime in the I(V) curves at low temperature (4–25 K). We show that present theories fail to describe this phenomenon and establish the need for a fully microscopic approach.