Interaction of Wannier–Stark levels in a wide well superlattice

We have investigated the energy spectrum of a superlattice with wide quantum wells under the bias of an electric field perpendicular to the superlattice layers. By using photocurrent spectroscopy, transitions of Wannier–Stark levels for the various electron and hole states are observed, and at low fields, further structures corresponding to miniband edge transitions are found. Various anticrossings could be observed at higher and lower electric fields. The anticrossings at high electric fields are due to energy alignment of different electronic sublevels in adjacent wells. The anticrossing structures at low fields could be interpreted as resonances between intrawell and interwell excitonic Wannier–Stark states with equal sublevel states, where the anticrossing is caused by differences in exciton binding energy. Fitting of transitions and anticrossings was done by using a semi-empirical model and we have extracted relevant fitting parameters like the quantum-confined Stark coefficient, binding energies for the excitonic Wannier–Stark levels and the resonant coupling strength for states involved in the various anticrossing transitions. Finally, insight into the excitonic influences on the coupling of the WS states could be obtained by comparing the fitted parameters for the various transitions.     

CdSe/ZnSe复合结构非对称量子阱的发光特性

利用MOCVD技术在GaAs衬底上外延生长了非对称量子阱结构CdSe/ZnSe材料,通过对其稳态变温光谱及变激发功率光谱,研究了其发光特性。稳态光谱表明:在82～141K时,观测到的两个发光峰来源于不同阱层厚度的量子阱激子发光,用对比实验验证了高能侧发光的来源。宽阱发光强度先增加后减小,将其归结为激子隧穿与激子热离化相互竞争的结果。通过Arrhenius拟合,对宽阱激子热激活能进行了计算。82K时变激发功率PL光谱表明:由于激子隧穿的存在,使得窄阱发光峰位不随激发功率变化而变化,宽阱发光峰位随激发功率增加发生了蓝移,并对激子隧穿进行了实验验证。     

Photoelasticity effects in superlattices with quantum wells having a sloping bottom near the interband resonances

An analytical expression is obtained for the linear coefficients of photoelasticity in superlattices with quantum wells having a sloping bottom in the vicinity of the interband resonances. It is shown that these coefficients considerably decrease when the slope of the quantum-well bottom is induced by an electric field applied to the superlattice and remain almost unchanged if the slope is produced by the variband method. A new mechanism providing the emergence of linear photoelasticity near the interband resonances is revealed for superlattices based on piezoelectric crystals. This mechanism is associated with the modulation of the band gap of the quantum-well structure by the generated piezoelectric field. Numerical estimates demonstrate that the contribution to the linear photoelasticity in the region of the interband resonances is substantially greater than the corresponding contribution in the exciton region of the spectrum and is comparable in magnitude to the contribution made by the deformation potential.     

纤锌矿InGaN staggered量子阱中的激子态和光学性质

本文将基于有效质量近似下的变分法,理论研究了纤锌矿InGaN/GaN staggered量子阱中的激子态和光学性质.数值结果显示了InGaN量子阱中的量子尺寸和staggered受限垒对束缚于量子阱中的激子态和光学性质有着明显的影响.当阱宽增加时,量子受限效应减弱,激子结合能降低,带间发光波长增加.另一方面,当量子阱中staggered受限势增加时,量子受限效应增强,激子结合能升高,带间发光波长降低.本文的理论结果证明了可以通过调节staggered垒高和量子尺寸来调控纤锌矿InGaN staggered量子阱中的激子态和光学性质.     

纤锌矿InGaN staggered量子阱中的激子态和光学性质

本文将基于有效质量近似下的变分法,理论研究了纤锌矿InGaN/GaN staggered 量子阱中的激子态和光学性质。数值结果显示了InGaN量子阱中的量子尺寸和staggered受限垒对束缚于量子阱中的激子态和光学性质有着明显地影响。当阱宽增加时,量子受限效应减弱,激子结合能降低, 带间发光波长增加。另一方面,当量子阱中staggered受限势增加时,量子受限效应增强,激子结合能升高,带间发光波长降低。本文的理论结果证明了可以通过调节staggered垒高和量子尺寸来调控纤锌矿InGaN staggered 量子阱中的激子态和光学性质。     

Photo-luminescence studies of hot electrons and real space transfer effect in a double quantum well superlattice

A GaAsAlGaAs superlattice of which unit cell has two GaAs quantum wells shows a negative differential resistance under electric fields applied parallel to the superlattice plane at E ≳ 1 kV/cm (300 K) or at E ≳ 0.5 kV/cm (77 K). The photo-luminescence at 77 K shows a dominant peak I_A followed by a small peak I_B. Under the electric field the high energy tail of the dominant peak is enhanced and the intensity of the second peak I_B is increased, which confirms the occurence of the real space transfer of hot electrons from the wide quantum well to the narrow one.     

Electronic energy levels in semiconductor quantum wells and superlattices

We present the results of the calculations of some electronic properties of semiconductor quantum wells and superlattices. The review includes the superlattice band structure and the quantum well bound energy levels; the virtual bound states of semiconductor quantum wells and their influence on the energy spectrum of separate confinement heterostructures. Finally the perturbation of quantum well bound states and exciton states by a static electric field applied parallel to the growth axis is considered.     

Polaron in a superlattice with δ-like potentials

The problem of the polaron spectrum is studied in a superlattice having narrow quantum wells and relatively wide potential barriers. A δ-like superlattice potential is chosen to solve the problem. This model is adequate, if the penetration depth of the electron wave function into the barrier region is much greater than the width of the quantum well. A weak-coupling polaron at low temperature is studied. Only volume phonons are considered. Expressions are obtained for the polaron mass and the shift of the polaron energy under these assumptions. To test the model, numerical calculations were performed for an InAs-GaSb superlattice, whose quantum wells are quite deep (the energy offset of the conduction bands in InAs and GaSb equals 830 meV), narrow (the width of a quantum well corresponds to the width of an InAs monolayer 6 Å), and the barrier width corresponding to the thickness of the GaSb layers equals 150 Å. The assumption that the penetration depth of the wave function is much greater than the barrier width holds well.     

Exciton spectra of semiconductor superlattices in a parallel magnetic field

Low-temperature photoluminescence and photoluminescence excitation spectra of GaAs/AlGaAs semiconductor superlattices having different potential barrier widths (b=20, 30, 50, and 200 Å), i.e., degrees of tunnel coupling between quantum wells, are studied in magnetic fields up to 5 T oriented parallel and perpendicular to the layers of the structure. The changes in the qualitative character of the photoluminescence excitation spectra observed in a parallel magnetic field with increasing tunnel transparency of the barrier correspond to a transition from a quasi-two-dimensional to a quasi-three-dimensional electronic spectrum as a miniband develops in the superlattice. In the photoluminescence excitation spectra of the superlattice with b=50 Å, as the parallel magnetic field is increased, a new line appears in the violet wing of the spatially indirect exciton excitation line, which is absent in a perpendicular field. A similar line was also observed to arise in the photoluminescence spectra. It is shown that the indirect exciton luminescence line can be suppressed by both parallel and perpendicular magnetic fields.     

Anisotropic positive magnetoresistance of a nonplanar 2D electron gas in a parallel pagnetic field

Magnetotransport properties of a 2D electron gas in narrow GaAs quantum wells with AlAs/GaAs superlattice barriers were studied. It is shown that the anisotropic positive magnetoresistance observed in selectively doped semiconductor structures in a parallel magnetic field is caused by the spatial modulation of the 2D electron gas.     

Index of refraction of GaAsAlxGa1−xAs superlattices and multiple quantum wells

Recent research of superlattices and multiple quantum wells has generated considerable interest in the optical waveguiding properties of these structures for optoelectronic applications. As a result we present a theoretical study of the index of refraction of superlattices and determine its variation as a function of frequency and the superlattice parameters, i.e., layer width and AlAs composition. Γ-region exciton and valence-band mixing effects are included in the model. It is found that these two effects have an important influence on the value of the index of refraction and that superstructure effects rapidly decrease for energies greater than the superlattice potential barriers. Because of the quasi-two-dimensional character of the Γ-region excitons, our results indicate that the superlattice index of refraction can vary by ∼ 2% at the quantized, bound-exciton, transition energies. Overall, the theoretical results are in good agreement with the experimental data.     

Interwell excitons in GaAs superlattices

The formation of spatially indirect excitons in superlattices with narrow minibands is investigated experimentally. The interwell exciton is similar to the first Wannier–Stark localized exciton of an electrically biased superlattice. However, in the present case the localization is mediated by the Coulomb interaction of the electron and the hole without external fields.     

Optical detection of an electric field in a GaAs/AlGaAs <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-<Emphasis Type="Italic">i</Emphasis>-<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis> heterostructure with double quantum wells

Processes occurring when a static transverse electric field is applied to a GaAs/AlGaAs n-i-n heterostructure with single quantum wells and asymmetric tunnel-coupled double quantum wells have been investigated by optical methods. The difference between the energies of exciton transitions for quantum wells of different widths makes it possible to attribute the observed photoluminescence peaks to particular pairs of wells or particular single quantum wells. The local electric field for each quantum well has been determined in terms of the Stark shift and splitting of exciton lines in a wide range of external voltage. A qualitative model has been proposed to explain the nonmonotonic distribution of the electric field over the depth of the heterostructure.     

Intersubband transitions in InAs/GaSb semi-metallic superlattices

Magnetic field orientated parallel to the superlattice layers enables intersubband absorption to occur for normally incident light. We investigate semi-metallic InAs/GaSb superlattices in this configuration, presenting data over a wide range of InAs well widths. For narrow wells, the reduced absorption coefficient means that an alternative waveguide configuration, where the light makes about 4 or 5 passes through the sample is used. In this second configuration we see further activation of the intersubband resonance by the parallel field. The intersubband energy and absorption characteristics are studied over a large range of well widths and compared with results from 8-band k·p calculations.     

Interface-related effects on confined excitons in GaAs/AlxGa1−xAs single quantum wells

Confined excitons in non-abrupt GaAs/Al_xGa_1−xAs single quantum wells are studied. The graded interfaces are described taking into account fluctuations in their thickness a and positioning with respect to the abrupt interface picture. Numerical results for confined (0,0),(1,1) and (0,2) excitons in GaAs/Al_0.3Ga_0.7As quantum wells show that while the interfacial fluctuations produce small changes (<0.5 meV) in the exciton binding energies, the confined exciton energies can be red- or blue-shifted as much as 25 meV for wells with mean width of 50 Å and 2 ML wide interfaces.     

Exciton-exciton collisions and conversion of interwell excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs superlattices

The ratio of the densities of intra-and interwell excitons in a symmetric system of coupled quantum wells — a superlattice based on a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure — is investigated over a wide range of optical excitation power densities. Conversion of interwell excitons into intrawell excitons as a result of exciton-exciton collisions is observed at high exciton densities. Direct evidence for such a conversion mechanism is the square-root dependence of the interwell exciton density on the optical excitation level. The decrease in the lifetime of interwell excitons with increasing excitation density, as measured directly by time-resolved spectroscopy methods, confirms the explanation proposed for the effect. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 65, No. 8, 623–628 (25 April 1997)     

Quantum well excitons in an electric field: two versus three dimensional behavior

Previous calculations have shown a transition between two dimensional and three dimensional behavior of excitons confined in a semiconducting quantum well structure as a function of electric field. We here present calculations of the exciton binding energy as a function of electric field using a two parameter variational wave function of the form used in the absence of the electric field by Matsuura and Shinozuka. Our calculations were performed using a finite potential barrier model for the confinement of the exciton in the quantum well. The results of our calculations confirm the validity of the conclusion that the variational exciton wave function goes from being of a purely 2D hydrogenic type at small well widths and/or low electric fields to a 3D hydrogenic type in wide wells and/or high electric fields.     

Effect of heteroboundary spreading on the properties of exciton states in Zn(Cd)Se/ZnMgSSe quantum wells

Exciton states in Zn(Cd)Se/ZnMgSSe quantum wells with different diffusion spreading of interfaces are studied by optical spectroscopy methods. It is shown that the emission spectrum of quantum wells at low temperatures is determined by free excitons and bound excitons on neutral donors. The nonlinear dependence of the stationary photoluminescence intensity on the excitation power density and the biexponential luminescence decay are explained by the neutralization of charged defects upon photoexcitation of heterostructures. With the stationary illumination on, durable (about 40 min) reversible changes in the reflection coefficient near the exciton resonances of quantum wells are observed. It is shown that, along with the shift of exciton levels, the spreading of heteroboundaries leads to three effects: an increase in the excitonphonon interaction, an increase in the energy shift between the emission lines of free and bound excitons, and a decrease in the decay time of exciton luminescence in a broad temperature range. The main reasons for these effects are discussed.     

Excitons associated with miniband dispersion in (InGa)As---GaAs strained layer superlattices

Photoluminescence excitation (PLE) spectroscopy has been used to characterise miniband formation in (InGa)-As---GaAs superlattices with nominally 50 Å wide wells and barriers between 200 Å and 50 Å. The nominal composition of the alloy layers was 0.06. The observed exciton features are consistent with theoreical predictions of both parity allowed and forbidden transitions, at the mini-Brillouin zone centre and edge, including transitions associated with M₁ critical points in the superlattice bandstructure. Furthermore, as the GaAs thickness is varied we monitor changes in shape of the PLE spectra in the region of the first free electron to heavy-hole subband continuum, brought about by the electron-hole Coulomb interaction within the miniband. We also report PLE measurements on a structure which has been designed specifically to maximise the possibility of revealing a Δn = 0 exciton resonance below the saddle point.     

Spectroscopy of Plasmon-Excitons in Semiconductor-Metal Nanostructures

The results of the theory considering mixed plasmon-excitonic modes and their spectroscopy are presented. The plasmon-excitons are formed owing to strong Coulomb coupling between quasi-two-dimensional excitons of a quantum well and dipole plasmons of nanoparticles. The effective polarizability associated with a nanoparticle is calculated in a self-consistent approximation taking into account the local field determined by in-layer dipole plasmons and their image charges due to the excitonic polarization of a near quantum well. The spectra of elastic scattering and specular reflection of light are investigated in cases of a single silver nanoparticle and a monolayer of such particles situated in close proximity to a quantum well GaAs/AlGaAs. The optical spectra show a two-peak structure with a deep and narrow dip in the resonant range of plasmon-excitons. Propagation of plasmon-excitonic polaritons is discussed for periodic superlattices whose unit cell consists of a quantum well and a layer of metal nanoparticles. The superradiance regime originating in the Bragg diffraction of plasmon-excitonic polaritons by the superlattice is investigated. It is shown that the broad spectrum of plasmonic reflection depending on the number of unit cells in a superlattice also has a narrow dip at the exciton frequency.