Transmission in symmetrical GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs double-barriers with compositionally nonabrupt interfaces

Transmission properties of electrons through GaAs/Al_xGa_1-xAs symmetrical double-barriers with abrupt and nonabrupt interfaces are calculated and compared. The interface potential and carrier effective-mass are obtained assuming a linear variation of the aluminium molar fraction in the transition regions GaAs ⇔ Al_xGa_1-xAs. When the electron energy E_0,-1,e is smaller than the double-barrier height V_x0 , changes in the internal interfaces widths shift tunneling resonances, while changes in the external interfaces increase the energy widths of the resonant transmission peaks. When E_0,-1,e > V_x0, both external and internal interfaces modify remarkably the transmission of nonabrupt GaAs/Al_xGa_1-xAs double-barriers when compared with the abrupt double-barrier, even if their widths are as small as two GaAs lattice parameters. However, the first transmission peaks of abrupt and nonabrupt GaAs/Al_xGa_1-xAs double-barriers are very similar, except when the interface widths are greater than four lattice parameters.     

Doping profile effects on modulation-doped single nonabrupt GaAs/AlxGa1 − xAs quantum wells

We study inhomogeneous doping effects on the confinement properties of modulation-doped single nonabrupt GaAs/Al_xGa_1 − xAs quantum wells. We describe the inhomogeneous doping using error function profiles, and we solve self-consistently the coupled Schrödinger (with a position dependent kinetic energy operator) and Poisson equations to obtain the electron energy levels. When the nonabrupt interfaces (spacer layer) are 10Å(100Å) wide and the presence of Si-dopant density in a 100 Å GaAs well region is only 10% of the Si-dopant density in the Al_0.3Ga_0.7As barriers, the lowest intersubband transition energy increases 37 meV in comparison with that calculated within the homogeneous doping-abrupt interface picture.     

Interface effects in the high electric field resonances of single AlxGa1-xAs non-abrupt barriers in GaAs

The influence of nonabrupt interfaces in the high electric field resonances of single Al_xGa_1-xAs barriers in GaAs is studied. The resonances are considerably smoothed when interfacial widths are as small as two GaAs lattice parameters. Several resonances in the transmission coefficient of a 0.154 eV electron through a non-abrupt Al_xGa_1-xAs single barrier in GaAs, with height of 240 meV and 200 Å of width, can even disappear if interfacial widths of four GaAs lattice parameters are considered. Interface effects are shown to be more important for heavy holes than for electrons.     

Accumulation layer and interface effects in doped nonabrupt GaAs/AlxGa1 − xAs single quantum wells

The electron energy levels in doped nonabrupt GaAs/Al_xGa_1 − xAs single quantum wells 100 Å wide are calculated. Interface widths varying from zero to four GaAs unit cells are taken into account, as well as band bendings of 0–90 meV. It is shown that interface effects on the energy levels are important and sensitive to the level of doping. When interfaces of only two GaAs unit cells and a band bending of 40 meV are considered, the ground-state (first excited state) energy level shifts toward energies as high as 4 meV (20 meV).     

Accumulation layer and interface effects in doped nonabrupt GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs heterojunctions

A theoretical model is proposed to describe doped nonabrupt GaAs/Al_xGa_1-xAs heterojunctions. It is used to study interface effects on the transmission properties and energy levels of electrons in these heterostructures. It is showed that interface effects are important in the case of high doping levels, and wide GaAs/Al_xGa_1-xAs interfaces.     

The influence of growth patterns on the transmission properties of nonabrupt GaAs/AlxGa1−xAs heterojunctions

The influence of growth patterns in the transmission properties of nonabrupt GaAs/Al_xGa_1−xAs heterojunctions is investigated. Five interfacial growth patterns, representative of interfacial alloy variations generated by different growth techniques, are used. It is shown that carrier transmission depends on the type of the aluminum molar fraction variation through the interface. A study of the role of the interface width in carrier transmission is done for each compositional growth profile.     

Binding energies of excitons in symmetric and asymmetric quantum wells in a magnetic field

The binding energy of the exciton in the symmetric and asymmetric GaAs/Ga_1 − xAl_xAs quantum wells is calculated with the use of a variational approach. Results have been obtained as a function of the potential symmetry, and the size of the quantum well in the presence of an arbitrary magnetic field. The applied magnetic field is taken to be parallel to the axis of growth of the quantum well structure. The role of the asymmetric barriers, magnetic field, and well width in the excitonic binding is discussed as the tunability parameters of the GaAs/Ga_1 − xAl_xAs system.     

Donor binding energies in GaAs quantum wells considering the band nonparabolicity effects and the wavefunction elongation

The donor binding energies in finite GaAs/Ga_xAl_1 − xAs quantum wells have been calculated by considering the confinement of electrons, which increases as the well width increases. The variational solutions have been improved by using a two-parameter trial wavefunction, and by including the conduction band nonparabolicity. It is shown that the method used gives results in agreement with those obtained in the experiments on the effective mass and the donor binding energy, both of which are strongly dependent on the well width.     

Band edge offsets in strained (InGa)As-(AlGa)As heterostructures

The excitonic transitions between the ground electron and hole quantum well sublevels in strained In_xGa_1-xAs-Al_yGa_1-yAs multiple quantum well structures (x = 0.12−0.35 and y = 0.2−0.35) have been investigated by means of photoluminescence and photoconductivity measurements. The molecular beam epitaxy grown structures contained an Al_yGa_1-yAs matrix with one unstrained GaAs and three strained In_xGa_1-xAs quantum wells one of which was in the GaAs cladding layers. The ratio of the conduction band edhe line up to the band gap offset for the strained In_xGa_1-xAs-unstrained Al_yGa_1-yAs interface has been found to be 0.67 ± 0.08 for the studied regions of x and y.     

非对称方势阱中的激子及其与声子的相互作用

采用类LLP(Lee-Low-Pines)变换和分数维变分法,在讨论有限深非对称方势阱Ga_1－xAl_xAs/ GaAs/Ga_0.7Al_0.3As的分数维基础上,计算了其中激子的基态能量以及声子对其影响,随着势阱宽度增加,激子能量先减小后增大,出现一个最小值.讨论了一侧势垒高度变化对分数维、激子基态能量的影响,并发现声子作用使得激子能量明显增大.另外,非对称方势阱中的激子结合能随阱宽的减小而增     

The influence of interfacial growth patterns on the transmission properties of carriers through nonabrupt GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs single barriers

The influence of interfacial growth patterns on the tunelling of carriers through nonabrupt GaAs/Al_xCa_1-xAs single barriers is studied. Five interfacial growth patterns are considered, all of them representative of interfacial alloy variations generated by different growth techniques. With a generalization of the scheme proposed previously by Freire et al [Superlatt. Microstruct. 1, 17 (1992)], the inter-related single barrier potential and effective mass is obtained. The envelope function equation with a position dependent kinetic energy operator is solved with a multistep scheme. The position of the resonant peaks, their peak-to-valley ratios, and the mean width of the resonance structures are shown to depend on the interfacial growth patterns.     

The effect of hydrostatic pressure on subband structure and optical transitions in modulation-doped quantum well

Within the framework of effective-mass approximation, we have calculated theoretically the effects of hydrostatic pressure and doping concentration on subband structure and optical transitions in modulation-doped GaAs/Al_xGa_1−xAs quantum well for different well widths. The electronic structure of modulation-doped quantum well under the hydrostatic pressure is determined by solving the Schrödinger and Poisson equations self-consistently. The results obtained show that intersubband transitions and the subband energy levels in the modulation-doped quantum well can be significantly modified and controlled by the well width, donor concentration and hydrostatic pressure.     

Fractional-dimensional approach for biexcitons in GaAs/AlxGa1−xAs quantum wells

The energy of a biexciton in a GaAs/Al_xGa_1?xAs quantum well structure with finite barriers is investigated by using the geometrical model of two-dimensional biexcitons proposed by Singh et al. [J. Singh, D. Birkedal, V.G. Layssenko, J.M. Hvam, Phys. Rev. B 53 (1996) 15909; I.-K. Oh, J. Singh, Phys. Rev. B 60 (1999) 2528]. A fractional-dimensional approach is used to obtain the binding energy of the biexciton in both square quantum wells and parabolic quantum wells. Theoretical results show that the binding energy of a biexciton in a finite quantum well exhibits a maximum with increasing well width. The ratio of the binding energy of a biexciton to that of an exciton in a quantum well structure is found to be sensitive to the electron-to-hole mass ratio and larger than that in the three-dimensional system. The results agree fairly well with previous experimental results. The results of our approach are also compared with those of earlier theories.     

Hot electron energy and momentum relaxation in GaAs/AlAs and GaAs/Ga1-xAlxAs multiple quantum wells

Experimental results on high electric field longitudinal transport in GaAs/AlAs and GaAs/Ga_1-xAl_xAs multiple quantum wells (MQW) are presented and compared with the prediction of a dielectric continuum model. We draw from our experiments the following four conclusions.(i) In GaAs/Ga_1-xAl_xAs systems the dominant energy and momentum relaxation mechanism is through scattering with GaAs -modes.(ii) However, in GaAs/AlAs systems the AlAs interface mode is dominant in relaxing the energy and momentum of the quantum well electrons.(iii) The hot electron momentum relaxation as obtained from the high-field drift velocity experiments is strongly affected by the production of hot phonons as expected from a model involving a non-drifting hot phonon distribution.(iv) The importance of the AlAs interface mode in GaAs/Ga_1-xAl_xAs MQW is not the result of the intrinsic scattering rate but related to its shorter lifetime, compared to GaAs modes.     

Fractal dimension study of polaron effects in cylindrical GaAs/Al<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Ga<Subscript>1-<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>As core–shell nanowires

Polaron effects in cylindrical GaAs/Al _x Ga_1-xAs core–shell nanowires are studied by applying the fractal dimension method. In this paper, the polaron properties of GaAs/Al _x Ga_1-xAs core–shell nanowires with different core radii and aluminum concentrations are discussed. The polaron binding energy, polaron mass shift, and fractal dimension parameter are numerically determined as functions of shell width. The calculation results reveal that the binding energy and mass shift of the polaron first increase and then decrease as the shell width increases. A maximum value appears at a certain shell width for different aluminum concentrations and a given core radius. By using the fractal dimension method, polaron problems in cylindrical GaAs/Al _x Ga_1-xAs core–shell nanowires are solved in a simple manner that avoids complex and lengthy calculations.     

Impurity absorption of light involving resonant states of shallow donors in quantum wells

The energy spectrum of localized and resonant states of shallow donors in heterostructures GaAs/Al_xGa_1?xAs with quantum wells is calculated. The widths of the resonant states belonging to the second size quantization subband are determined. It is shown that the width of a resonance level is mainly determined by the interaction with optical phonons. The spectrum of impurity absorption of light due to electron transitions from the ground state of the donor to the resonant states belonging to the second size quantization subband is calculated.     

Diamagnetic shift of exciton energy levels in GaAs-Ga1−xAlxAs quantum wells

The results of direct measurements of the diamagnetic shift of axciton levels in narrow quantum wells of a thickness varying between 25 and 150 Å are reported. A perturbation type approach is used to calculate the diamagnetic shift of 1s exciton levels in quantum well structures of Ga_1−xAl_xAs-GaAs-Ga_1−xAl_xAs. The calculations are applicable in the weak field range for which the Coulomb energy dominates over the magnetic one. The experimental results are in satisfactory agreement with the theory throughout the entire well thicknesses range.     

Binding energies of wannier excitons in GaAs-Ga1−xAlxAs quantum well structures

Binding energies of Wannier excitons in a quantum well structure consisting of a single slab of GaAs sandwiched between two semi-infinite slabs of Ga_1?xAl_xAs are calculated using a variational approach. Due to reduction in symmetry along the axis of growth of these quantum well structures and the presence of band discontinuities at the interfaces, the degeneracy of the valence band of GaAs is removed leading to two exciton systems, namely, the heavy hole exciton and the light hole exciton. The variations of the binding energies of these two excitons as a function of the size of the GaAs quantum wells for various values of the heights of the potential barrier are calculated and their behavior is discussed.     

Optical gain spectra of unstrained graded GaAs/AlxGa1 − xAs quantum well laser

We have calculated the optical gain spectra in unstrained graded GaAs/Al_xGa_1 − xAs single quantum well lasers as a function of the energy of the radiation, the quantum well width and the interface thickness. The optical gain spectra were calculated using the density matrix approach (Luttinger–Kohn method), considering the parabolic band model (conduction band), all subband mixing between the heavy and light holes (valence band), and the transversal electrical light polarization. Our results show that the optical peak gain is sensitive to the width and the graded profile of the interfaces, and is blue-shifted as a function of the interface width.