Donor impurity states in zinc-blende GaN/AlGaN quantum well: Quantum confinement and laser-dressed effects

Within the framework of effective-mass approximation, the effects of a laser field on the ground-state donor binding energy in zinc-blende (ZB) GaN/AlGaN quantum well (QW) have been investigated variationally. Numerical results show that the donor binding energy is highly dependent on QW structure parameters and Al composition in ZB GaN/AlGaN QW. The laser field effects are more noticeable on the donor binding energy of an impurity localized inside the QW with small well width and low Al composition. However, for the impurity located in the vicinity of the well edge of the QW, the donor binding energy is insensible to the variation of Al composition, well width and laser field intensity in ZB GaN/AlGaN QW. In particular, the competition effects between laser field and quantum confinement on impurity states have also been investigated in this paper.     

Electronic states of a hydrogenic impurity in a zinc-blende GaN/AlGaN quantum well

Binding energies of ground and a few low lying excited states of a hydrogenic donor confined in a zinc-blende GaN/AlGaN quantum well are investigated. They are computed within the framework of single band effective mass approximation, by means of a variational approach. The donor states are investigated with the various impurity positions as a function of well width. The calculations have been carried out with the inclusion of conduction band non-parabolicity through the energy dependent effective mass. The variational solutions have been improved by using a two-parametric trial wavefunction. The results seem better and good agreement with the other investigators. To support our results, we observe that the values of variational parameters are consistent when two parameter wave function is used. We find that the inclusion of non-parabolic effects leads to more binding for all the values of well width and is significant for narrow wells. The results are compared with the existing available literature.     

闪锌矿GaN/AlGaN量子点中激子态及光学性质的研究

在有效质量近似的框架下,运用变分方法研究闪锌矿GaN/AlGaN量子点中的激子态及相关光学性质,探讨电子与空穴在量子点中的三维空间受限和有限势效应.数值计算结果显示,当量子点的尺寸增加时, 量子尺寸效应对电子和空穴的影响减弱,基态激子结合能和带间光跃迁能也都降低;而当该量子点中垒层AlGaN中 Al含量增加时,提高了量子点对电子和空穴的束缚作用, 同时基态激子结合能和带间光跃迁能都增加.数值的理论结果与相关实验测量结果一致.     

Hydrogenic impurity states in wurtzite GaN/AlGaN coupled quantum dots

The ground-state binding energy of a hydrogenic donor impurity in wurtzite (WZ) GaN/AlGaN coupled quantum dots (QDs) is calculated by means of a variational method, considering the strong built-in electric fields caused by the piezoelectricity and spontaneous polarizations. The strong built-in electric fields induce an asymmetrical distribution of the ground-state binding energy with respect to the center of the coupled QDs. If the impurity is located at the low dot, the ground-state binding energy is insensitive to the interdot barrier width of WZ GaN/AlGaN coupled QDs.     

External electric field effects on the electronic and hydrogenic impurity states in ellipsoidal and semi-ellipsoidal quantum dots

In the effective mass approximation, energy eigenvalues of an electron confined in ellipsoidal and semi-ellipsoidal quantum dots, with and without hydrogenic impurity, under the influence of an external electric field have been investigated, using the matrix diagonalization method. The lower-laying states of the electron as functions of the electric field strength, the dot size and its geometry are calculated. Our results show that the electronic states are strongly affected by the applied electric field, the size and the geometry of the dot.     

Donor impurity states in elliptical quantum rings subjected to a magnetic field

Within the effective-mass approximation we calculate the energies of a donor impurity in an elliptical quantum ring subjected to a magnetic field. The energies are found to exhibit Aharonov-Bohm oscillations depending on the magnetic field and the eccentricity. As the eccentricity increases, the energies decrease and the period increases.     

Hydrostatic pressure and electric and magnetic field effects on the binding energy of a hydrogenic donor impurity in InAs Pöschl-Teller quantum ring

We consider the effects of electric and magnetic fields as well as of hydrostatic pressure on the donor binding energy in InAs Pöschl-Teller quantum rings. The ground state energy and the electron wave function are calculated within the effective mass and parabolic band approximations, using the variational method. The binding energy dependencies on the electric field strength and the hydrostatic pressure are reported for different values of quantum ring size and shape, the parameters of the Pöschl-Teller confining potential, and the magnetic field induction. The results show that the binding energy is an increasing or decreasing function of the electric field, depending on the chosen parameters of the confining potential. Also, we have observed that the binding energy is an increasing/decreasing function of hydrostatic pressure/magnetic field induction. Likewise, the impurity binding energy behaves as an increasing/decreasing function of the inner/outer radii of the quantum ring nanostructure.     

Donor impurity states in coupled quantum well wires under hydrostatic pressure and applied electric field

In this work we study the binding energy of the ground state for a hydrogenic donor impurity in laterally coupled GaAs/Ga_1−xAl_xAs quantum well wires, considering the simultaneous effects of hydrostatic pressure and applied electric field. We have used a variational method and the effective mass and parabolic band approximations. The low dimensional structure consists of two quantum well wires with rectangular transverse section coupled by a central Ga_1−xAl_xAs barrier. Our results are reported for several sizes of the structure and we have taken into account variations of the impurity position along the growth direction of the heterostructure.     

Optically pumped GaN/AlGaN quantum well intersubband terahertz laser

We propose an optically pumped nonpolar GaN/AlGaN quantum well (QW) active region design for terahertz (THz) lasing in the wavelength range of 30 μm～ 40 μm and operating at room temperature. The fast longitudinal optical (LO) phonon scattering in GaN/AlGaN QWs is used to depopulate the lower laser state, and more importantly, the large LO phonon energy is utilized to reduce the thermal population of the lasing states at high temperatures. The influences of temperature and pump intensity on gain and electron densities are investigated. Based on our simulations, we predict that with a sufficiently high pump intensity, a room temperature operated THz laser using a nonpolar GaN/AlGaN structure is realizable.     

Density of impurity states of shallow donors in a quantum well under intense laser field

The density of donor impurity states in a square GaAs–AlGaAs quantum well under an intense laser field is calculated taking into account the laser dressing effects on both the Coulomb potential and the confining potential. Using the effective-mass approximation within a variational scheme, the donor binding energy is obtained as a function of the laser dressing parameter, and the impurity position. Our results point out that a proper consideration of the density of impurity states may be of relevance in the interpretation of the optical phenomena related to shallow impurities in quantum wells, where the effects of an intense laser field compete with the quantum confinement.     

Donor impurity states in direct-gap SiGe quantum well: Applied electric field and quantum size effects

Within the framework of the effective-mass approximation and variational procedure, competition effects between applied electric field and quantum size on donor impurity states in the direct-gap Ge/SiGe quantum well (QW) have been investigated theoretically. Numerical results show that the applied electric field (quantum size) dominates electron and impurity states in direct-gap Ge/SiGe QW with large (small) well width. Moreover, the competition effects also induce that the donor binding energies show obviously different behaviors with respect to electric field in the QW with different well widths. In particular, when the impurity is located at left boundary of the QW, the donor binding energy is insensitive to the variation of well width when well width is large for any electric field case.     

An optically pumped GaN/AlGaN quantum well intersubband terahertz laser

We propose an optically pumped nonpolar GaN/AlGaN quantum well(QW) active region design for terahertz(THz) lasing in the wavelength range of 30 μm～ 40 μm and operating at room temperature.The fast longitudinal optical(LO) phonon scattering in GaN/AlGaN QWs is used to depopulate the lower laser state,and more importantly,the large LO phonon energy is utilized to reduce the thermal population of the lasing states at high temperatures.The influences of temperature and pump intensity on gain and electron densities are investigated.Based on our simulations,we predict that with a sufficiently high pump intensity,a room temperature operated THz laser using a nonpolar GaN/AlGaN structure is realizable.     

Pressure effects on the donor binding energy in zinc-blende InGaN/GaN quantum dot

Based on the effective-mass approximation, the hydrostatic pressure effects on the donor binding energy of the hydrogenic impurity in zinc-blende (ZB) InGaN/GaN quantum dot (QD) are investigated by means of a variational procedure. Numerical results show that the donor binding energy increases when the hydrostatic pressure increases for any impurity position and QD structure parameter. Moreover, it is found that the hydrostatic pressure has a remarkable influence on the donor binding energy of the hydrogenic impurity located at the vicinity of dot center in ZB InGaN/GaN QD.     

Effects of built-in electric field on donor binding energy in InGaN/ZnSnN2 quantum well structures

In_xGa${}_{1?x}$N/ZnSnN₂ quantum well structures are studied in terms of a binding energy of a donor atom. 1s and $2p_{\pm }$ impurity states are considered. The Schrödinger's and Poisson's equations are solved self-consistently. A hydrogenic type wave function to represent each impurity state is assumed. The calculations include band-bending in the potential energy profile introduced by the built-in electric field existing along the structures. The binding energy and the energy of the transition between the impurity states are represented as a function of the quantum well width, the donor position, and the indium concentration. An external magnetic field up to 10 T is included into the calculations to compute the Zeeman splitting. The maximum value of the transition energy is around 30 meV (nearly 7.3 THz) which occurs in a 15-Å In_0.3Ga_0.7N/ZnSnN₂ quantum well. Being strong, the built-in electric field makes the transition energy drop quickly with the decreasing well width. For the same reason, the energy curves are found to be highly asymmetric function of the donor position around the well center. Compared to the bulk value, the transition energy in the quantum well structures enhances nearly two-fold.     

Hydrogenic impurity states in zinc-blende InxGa1−xN/GaN in cylindrical quantum well wires

Within the framework of effective-mass approximation, the binding energy of a hydrogenic donor impurity in zinc-blende (ZB) In_xGa_1−x  N/GaN cylindrical quantum well wires (CQWWs) is investigated using variational procedures. Numerical results show that the ground-state donor binding energy _Eb$E_b$ is highly dependent on the impurity position and the CQWWs structure parameters. The donor binding energy for a shallow donor impurity located at the center of the CQWWs is the largest. As the impurity position changes from the center of the wire to its edge, the donor binding energy gets smaller. Also, we have found that In concentration is a very important value to tailor the system, since the binding energies close to binding energy maxima are strongly dependent on In content.     

Built-in electric field effect on hydrogenic impurity in wurtzite GaN/AlGaN quantum dot

The binding energy of a hydrogenic donor impurity in a wurtzite (WZ) GaN/AlGaN quantum dot (QD) is investigated, including the strong built-in electric field effect due to the spontaneous and piezoelectric polarizations. Numerical results show that the strong built-in electric field induces an asymmetrical distribution of the donor binding energy with respect to the center of the QD. The donor binding energy is insensitive to dot height when the impurity is located at the right boundary of the QD with large dot height.     

Hydrogenic impurity states in zinc-blende GaN/AlN coupled quantum dots

Based on the effective-mass approximation, we have calculated the donor binding energy of a hydrogenic impurity in zinc-blende (ZB) GaN/AlN coupled quantum dots (QDs) using a variational method. Numerical results show that the donor binding energy is highly dependent on the impurity position and coupled QDs structural parameters. The donor binding energy is largest when the impurity is located at the center of quantum dot. When the impurity is located at the interdot barrier edge, the donor binding energy has a minimum value with increasing the interdot barrier width.     

Simultaneous effects of hydrostatic pressure and applied electric field on the impurity-related self-polarization in GaAs/Ga1−xAlxAs multiple quantum wells

A detailed theoretical study of the combined effects of hydrostatic pressure and in-growth direction applied electric field on the binding energy and self-polarization of a donor impurity in a system of GaAs-(Ga,Al)As coupled square quantum wells is presented. The study is performed in the framework of the effective mass and parabolic band approximations and using a variational procedure. The electron effective mass, the dielectric constant, the barrier height, the well sizes, all them varying with the hydrostatic pressure are taken into account within the study. The results obtained show that the impurity binding energy and its self-polarization bear strong dependencies with the hydrostatic pressure, the strength of the applied electric field, the width of the confining potential barriers, and the impurity position.