Exciton binding energy and excitonic absorption spectra in a parabolic quantum wire under transverse electric field

The effects of transverse electric field on the energy levels of electron and heavy hole, exciton binding energy and excitonic absorption spectra of GaAs parabolic quantum wire are theoretically investigated in detail. The results indicate that the electron and hole energy levels, exciton binding energy, excitonic absorption coefficient and absorption energy becomes smaller with the increase of electric field. That is more significant at the condition of weaker parabolic confinement potential. The phenomena can be explained by the separation of overlap integral of the electron and hole at the ground states.     

Exciton and biexciton binding and vertical Stark effect in a model lens-shaped quantum box: Application to InAs/InP quantum dots

The problem of excitonic and biexcitonic binding is studied in the system of parabolic coordinates for a lens-shaped quantum box. The exciton wavefunction is expanded in terms of electron–hole configurations made from electron and hole single-particle states. Configuration interaction method and perturbative calculations are used to study the competition between confinement and correlation effects. Biexcitonic binding energy is calculated in the strong confinement regime and a comparison to the case of a spherical box is made. Absorption spectra with and without correlation effects are computed for InAs/InP quantum dots. Excitonic binding energy and enhancement factor are estimated to be equal to about 20 meV and 1.5, respectively. The excitonic absorption is finally studied in the presence of a uniform vertical electric field. A weak vertical Stark effect is predicted for lens-shaped quantum box described within this model.     

Optical absorptions of an exciton in a disc-like quantum dot under an electric field

An exciton in a disc-like quantum dot (QD) with the parabolic confinement, under applied electric field, is studied within the framework of the effective-mass approximation. Both the electric field and the confinement effects on the transition energy and the oscillator strength were investigated. Based on the computed energies and wave functions, the linear, the third-order nonlinear and the total optical absorption coefficients were also calculated. We found that the optical absorption coefficients with considering excitonic effects are stronger than those without considering excitonic effects and the absorption peak will move to the right side induced by the electron-hole interaction, which shows an excitonic effect blue-shift of the resonance in QDs. The applied electric field may affect either the size or the position of absorption peaks of excitons. However, the applied electric field may only affect the size of absorption peaks of an electron-hole pair without considering excitonic effects. It is very important to take excitonic effects into account when we study the optical absorption for disc-like QDs. We may observe the excitonic effect induced by the external electric field.     

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.     

Exciton states in asymmetric GaInNAs/GaAs coupled quantum wells in an applied electric field

The electronic and optical properties of exciton states in GaInNAs/GaAs coupled quantum well (CQW) structure have been theoretically investigated by solving the Schrödinger equation in real space. The effect of well width on the exciton states has been also studied by varying the well width from 5?nm to 10?nm in asymmetric structures. The electron, hole and exciton states are calculated in the presence of an applied electric field. It is found that there are two direct (bright) exciton states with the largest oscillator strengths. Their energies weakly depend on the electric field due to the compensation between the blue shift and red shift of the electron–hole pair states. In addition, these two states are overlap in the case of symmetric CQWs and one of them is then shifted to higher energy in asymmetric CQWs. The ground state exciton has the binding energy of approximately 7.3?meV and decrease to around 3.0?meV showing the direct to indirect transition of the ground state. The direct–indirect crossover is observed at different electric field for different structure. It happens at the electric field when the e1–e2 electron anticrossing or h1–h2 hole anticrossings is observed, so that the crossover can be controlled by the well width of CQWs structure.     

Excitonic spectrum of an undoped quantum well in electric field

The effect of the valence band coupling on the excitonic spectrum of an undoped GaAsAl_xGa_1−xAs quantum well subjected to a normal electric field is examined. The exciton states are split because of the spin-splitting of the hole subbands. The binding energies of the (00h) and (001) excitons are noticeably increased. The transition strength of the “forbidden” (01h) exciton is enhanced both by the electric field and the strong mixing of the hole states. The binding of the 001 exciton is further increased because it exhibits a Fano-like resonance with the electron-heavy hole continuum.     

Stark shifts of charged particles in semiconductor quantum wells

 We calculate the effect of a homogeneous electric field on electrons, holes and excitons confined in a quantum well structure consisting of alternate thin layers of well and barrier material. The electric field which acts perpendicular to the quantum well is taken as a perturbation on the quantum well structure confining the charges. The electron and hole energies in the conduction and valence subbands are calculated by solving a one-dimensional Schr?dinger equation. The exciton binding energy is calculated using an improved excitonic model. Results obtained indicate the importance of higher-order excitons in optical transitions at high electric fields. Received: 29 February 1996/Accepted: 19 August 1996     

Exciton states and optical absorption in quantum wires under laser radiation

We analyze the exciton states in a quantum wire under intense laser radiation. Electrons and holes are confined by the parabolic potential of the quantum wire. An exactly solvable model is introduced for calculating the exciton binding energy, replacing the actual Coulomb interaction between the electron and the hole by a projective operator.     

Excitonic optical absorption in wurtzite InGaN/GaN quantum wells

Within the framework of the effective-mass and envelope function theory, exciton states and optical properties in wurtzite (WZ) InGaN/GaN quantum wells (QWs) are investigated theoretically considering the built-in electric field effects. Numerical results show that the built-in electric field, well width and in composition have obvious influences on exciton states and optical properties in WZ InGaN/GaN QWs. The built-in electric field caused by polarizations leads to a remarkable reduction of the ground-state exciton binding energy, the interband transition energy and the integrated absorption probability in WZ InGaN/GaN QWs with any well width and In composition. In particular, the integrated absorption probability is zero in WZ InGaN/GaN QWs with any In composition and well width L > 4 nm. In addition, the competition effects between quantum confinement and the built-in electric field (between quantum size and the built-in electric field) on exciton states and optical properties have also been investigated.     

Transformation of the dimensionality of excitonic states in quantum wells with asymmetric barriers in an electric field

A transformation of the dimensionality of excitonic states from 2D to 3D with increasing external electric field is observed in single GaAs/Al_xGa_1−x As quantum-well structures with asymmetric barriers. The binding energy of a 2D exciton remains constant over a wide range of variation of the field, since the decrease in the binding energy is compensated by increasingly larger penetration of the electronic wave function into the barrier layer, where the exciton binding energy is higher because the effective mass is larger and the dielectric constant of AlGaAs is lower than that of GaAs. When the maximum of the electron wave function is displaced into the barrier as the field increases, the exciton binding energy decreases. As the field increases further, a 2D exciton transforms into a quasi-3D exciton, with a heavy hole in the quantum well and an electron in a resonant above-barrier state. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 67, No. 3, 207–211 (10 February 1998)     

Combined effects of hydrostatic pressure and temperature on nonlinear properties of an exciton in a spherical quantum dot under the applied electric field

Within the framework of the effective-mass approximation, we have calculated the combined effects of hydrostatic pressure, temperature and applied electric field on an exciton confined in a typical GaAs/Ga_0.7Al_0.3As quantum dot. Several inputs of the confinement potential, hydrostatic pressure, temperature, and applied electric field have been considered. Our findings suggest that (1) the effect of the confinement strength is dominant over the electric field effect, (2) the oscillator strength is an increasing function of the hydrostatic pressure, (3) the absorption coefficients and energy difference depend strongly on the hydrostatic pressure but weakly on the temperature, (4) the absorption coefficients with considering excitonic effects are stronger than those without considering excitonic effects and the absorption peak will move to the right side induced by the electron-hole interaction, (5) the applied electric field may effect either the size or the position of absorption peaks of excitons.     

Raman spectroscopy of resonance exciton tunneling in GaAs/AlAs superlattices in electric fields

Optical-resonance-Raman scattering by acoustic phonons is used to study the effect of an electric field on the state of excitons in GaAs/AlAs superlattices. When the energy of the exciting photon coincides with the energy of an exciton bound to Wannier-Stark states of a heavy hole and electron with Δn=0,±1, the acoustic Raman scattering is enhanced. Oscillations in the intensity of the Raman spectrum in the electric field are explained by resonance delocalization of the exciton ground state as it interacts with Wannier-Stark states of neighboring quantum wells or with Wannier-Stark states of a higher electron miniband. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 827–829 (May 1998)     

Modeling of Coulomb interaction in parabolic quantum wires

We study the exciton states in a parabolic quantum wire. An exactly solvable model is introduced for calculating the exciton state and the binding energy as a function of the radius of the quantum wire within the envelope-function approximation. In the calculation, we replace the actual Coulomb interaction between the electron and the hole by a Gaussian nonlocal separable potential and obtain closed expressions for both the envelope-function and the binding energy. Results are compared with those obtained by perturbative methods.     

Staggered excitonic resonances of Stark-ladder transitions in an asymmetric double-well GaAs/AlAs superlattice

Excitonic effects on Stark-ladder transitions have been investigated experimentally and theoretically in a novel asymmetric double-well superlattice consisting of wide and narrow GaAs quantum wells separated by a constant AlAs barrier. In this superlattice strong electron resonance can occur under the applied electric field between the wide and narrow wells. It is found that due to existence of the two different heavy-hole localized states two types of excitonic resonances which are staggered in field are observed in the low-temperature photocurrent spectra. This field difference in the staggered exciton resonances is rigorously explained by variational calculations of the changes in the direct and indirect exciton binding energies with the field.     

Subband and excitonic binding of graded GaAs/Ga1–xAlxAs quantum wells under an electric field

The effects of an applied electric field on subband energies and excitonic binding for a graded GaAlAs quantum well are calculated variationally within the effective mass approximation. The ver sensitive dependence of subband energies on the applied field is calculated using a model potential profile and exact electron and hole wavefunctions. Our calculations have revealed the dependence of the energy shifts of subbands, and excitonic binding on the field direction in the graded quantum well. This pemits control over tunnelling which could be desirable for some applications.     

1.55 μm InGaAs-InP Quantum Wire Optical Modulators: Optimization of Wire Width to Maximize Absorption and Index of Refraction Changes Due to Excitonic Transitions

Quantum wire/dot modulators offer superior performance over their quantum counterpart due to enhanced excitonic binding energy. This paper presents simulations on InGaAs-InP quantum wire Stark effect optical modulators showing a novel trend. While the excitonic binding energies and absorption coefficients increase as the width of the wire is decreased, the refractive index change n is maximized at a wire width depending on the magnitude of the applied electric field. For example, n is maximized at a width of about 100Å for an external electric field of 120kV/cm in an InGaAs quantum wire. This behavior is explained by considering the opposing effects of the wire width on binding energy and changes in the electron-hole overlap function in the presence of an external electric field. Practical InGaAs-InP modulators using V-groove structures are also presented.     

Exciton trapping, binding and diamagnetic shift in T-shaped quantum wires

We determine the exciton states of T-shaped quantum wires. We use anisotropic effective-mass models to describe the electron and hole states. Pair correlation along the wire axis and in the lateral directions is included. We accurately model the measured redshifts between exciton photoluminescence in quantum wells and T-shaped wires. This redshift arises from enhanced exciton binding and the difference between well and wire confinement energy. We predict a large enhancement of binding energy only when lateral correlation is included, indicating that T-shaped wires arequasirather thanquantum1D wires. We calculate exciton shapes and diamagnetic shifts to determine how the exciton is distorted when confined in a T-wire.     

Spectrum of indirect magnetoexcitons in coupled quantum wells

The indirect Mott exciton (spatially-separated electron and hole) in coupled quantum wells in crossed electric and magnetic fields is discussed. The exciton spectrum is calculated for the case where the distance between the quantum wells of the electron and hole is larger than the exciton Bohr radius. The magnetoexciton creation probability is calculated and its dependence on the electric field is found. The absorption of electromagnetic radiation between the indirect magnetoexciton levels in coupled quantum wells is discussed. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 2220–2223 (December 1997)     

An exciton in a quantum well in the presence of crossed electric and magnetic fields

An analytical approach to the problem of the Wannier–Mott exciton in a semiconductor quantum well (QW) in the presence of external magnetic and electric fields is developed. The magnetic field is taken to lie in the heteroplanes while the electric field is directed perpendicular to the heteroplanes. Explicit dependencies of the energy levels and wave-functions of the exciton on the magnitudes of the fields for a wide range of the width of the QW are obtained. For the narrow QW, the results are valid for arbitrary electron and hole effective masses. In the case of intermediate and wide QWs, the adiabatic approximation implying the extreme difference of the electron and hole masses is used. In the intermediate QW, the states of the relative motion are the standard Coulomb states affected by the external fields while the states of the centre of mass are the size-quantized states in the QW. We focus particularly on the delocalized states caused by the external electric field and the motion of the excitons centre of mass in the magnetic field. These states are localized far away from the Coulomb centre. A strong influence of the boundaries of the wide QW on the delocalized exciton states is found to occur. Estimates of the expected values are made using typical parameters associated with GaAs QW.