Interference of polariton waves in structures with wide GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

The optical reflection spectra of semiconductor GaAs/AlGaAs structures with wide quantum wells are studied experimentally. A theoretical analysis of the spectra is performed in terms of the exciton-polariton model in the approximation of quantum confinement of the exciton center of mass with regard to the contributions of both heavy and light excitons to the crystal polarization. The applicability range of the theory of the center-of-mass confinement for GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures is estimated. It is established that, for quantum wells more than 180 nm wide, the interference effects observed in the reflection spectra of polariton waves are reproduced, to a good accuracy, by theoretical calculations based on the quantum confinement of the exciton center of mass. For quantum-well widths less than 150 nm, the experimental results are described better by the model of quantum confinement of electrons and holes.     

Giant Zeeman splitting of light holes in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

We have developed a theory of the longitudinal g-factor of light holes in semiconductor quantum wells. It is shown that the absolute value of the light-hole g-factor can strongly exceed its value in the bulk and, moreover, the dependence of the Zeeman splitting on magnetic field becomes non-linear in relatively low fields. These effects are determined by the proximity of the ground light-hole subband, lh1, to the first excited heavy-hole subband, hh2, in GaAs/AlGaAs-type structures. The particular calculations are performed in the framework of Luttinger Hamiltonian taking into account both the magnetic field-induced mixing of lh1 and hh2 states and the mixing of these states at heterointerfaces, the latter caused by chemical bonds anisotropy. A theory of magneto-induced reflection and transmission of light through the quantum wells for the light-hole-to-electron absorption edge is also presented.     

Comparison of resonant tunneling in AlGaAs/GaAs parabolic and diffusion modified quantum wells

Double barrier resonant tunneling diode using annealing induced diffusion modified quantum well is proposed as a viable alternative to that using parabolic quantum well which requires complex techniques to fabricate it. The transmission coefficients are calculated using the hybrid incremental airy function plane wave approach. The room temperature current-voltage characteristics have been calculated using transmission coefficients. The current-voltage characteristics are found to be similar in both diodes.     

High-frequency magneto-oscillations in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

We have observed very high-frequency, highly reproducible magneto-oscillations in modulation doped GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well structures. The oscillations are periodic in an inverse magnetic field (1/B) and their amplitude increases with temperature up to T approximately 700 mK. Being initially most pronounced around the filling factor nu=1/2, they move towards lower nu with increasing T. Front and back-gating data imply that these oscillations require a coupling to a parallel conducting layer. A comparison with existing oscillation models renders no explanation.     

Photoreflectance measurements in GaAs/AlGaAs asymmetric quantum wells

In this work we investigated the optical control of the bidimensional electron gas density in a single asymmetric quantum well using, for the first time, photoreflectance. We performed our measurements at 80 and 300 K as a function of the power density of the pump beam. Under strong illumination, the bidimensional electron gas density is washed out of the quantum well and under a dark condition, it reaches its maximum value. The variation of the optical transitions observed in our photoreflectance spectra was related to the induced changes of the band profile in between these two limiting cases.     

Single quantum well transistor with modulation doped AlGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs structures

Self-consistent calculations have been performed to obtain the wave functions and energy subbands of the two-dimensional electrons confined in a single quantum well of a Al_xGa_1?xAs/GaAs/Al_xGa_1?xAs heterostructure. The wave functions of the two-dimensional electron gas are found to be easily controlled by an external gate voltage applied between the AlGaAs-barriers, indicating a capability of fabricating a novel quantum well device, a modulation-doped single quantum well transistor.     

Free and localized positively charged excitons in the emission spectrum of GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

The recombination emission spectra of an excitonic complex (A ⁰ X) localized on a neutral acceptor, which have previously been attributed to a positively charged exciton (X ⁺), are investigated. Satellites arising around the main luminescence line as a result of recoil processes during recombination of the complex which leave the surviving hole in an excited state are observed and investigated. It is shown in a computational model based on the Luttinger Hamiltonian that the energy splittings between the main line and the satellites correspond to an in-barrier impurity center located a definite distance from the well. It is shown that as the magnetic field increases, a transition is observed from the singlet ground state of the complex to a multiplet state. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 68, No. 3, 223–228 (10 August 1998)     

Dynamics of excitonic states in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

The influence of photoexcited carriers on the dynamics of the absorption spectra of GaAs/Al_xGa_1−2x As multilayer quantum wells is investigated experimentally. It is found that at quasiparticle densities all the way up to 10¹¹ cm⁻² the saturation of the excitonic absorption is due to both a decrease of oscillator strength and broadening of the excitonic lines. It is shown that in the case of femtosecond resonance laser exci-tation the decrease of oscillator strength is due to free electron-hole pairs, while the broadening and energy shift of the excitonic lines are due to the exciton-exciton interaction. The lifetimes of free electron-hole pairs and excitons (≈65 ps and ≈410 ps, respectively) are determined from the exponential decrease of the change in the oscillator strength and in the width and energy position of the excitonic lines. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 66, No. 3, 139–144 (10 August 1997)     

Novel excitonic transitions in n-type GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

We report on a novel peak, the F-line, observed in photoluminescence spectra of GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells (QWs) with various donor layer positions and concentrations. The F-line is well-defined and red shifted by approximately 1.3 meV (dependent on the experimental conditions) relatively the free exciton (FE) in a 200 Å wide QW. The F-line exhibits a strong magnetic field dependence. The enhanced intensity with increasing field is due to an increasing wave function overlap caused by the enhanced localization of the involved charge carriers. In accordance, the derived thermal activation energy for the F-line is magnetic field dependent. The F-line exhibits a diamagnetic shift as expected for an excitonic transition and splits into four components with increasing magnetic field. Another associated higher energy peak, the E-line, is observed preferably in the presence of a magnetic field, between the heavy hole- and light hole-FE in PL excitation spectra. The E-line also exhibits a striking magnetic field and temperature dependence. The observed properties of the F-line with a striking dependence on the excitation intensity, magnetic field and temperature are consistent with the observation of an exciton bound at the negatively charged D^- donor state or a negatively charged X^- exciton.     

Valence bands spin splitting in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

A quantitative comparison between different model calculations of valence band states in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures is presented. We demonstrate that a 14-band k.p Hamiltonian using a completely new parameterization based on fits of the tight-binding band structure leads to energy dispersion relations in excellent agreement with experiment, whereas previous parameterizations result in significant deviations. The relevance of the present results to the calculation of spin-related phenomena is discussed.     

Shake-up intersubband transitions observed in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

Shake-up transitions involving QW hole subbands have been observed as satellites in selective photoluminescence spectra of undoped GaAs/AlGaAs QWs. These shake-up transitions are explained in terms of an interaction between localized exciton and valence-band hole states attached to the QW subbands, in which holes are shaken up from the n=1 heavy hole subband to higher subbands, either the n=1 light hole subband or the n=2 heavy hole subband. The required localization is due to the interface roughness; thus these new transitions are of intrinsic origin. From the observation of the intersubband shake-up processes we derive direct information about the hole inter-subband energies. Furthermore, the satellite intensity is strikingly enhanced in the presence of a magnetic field due to an increasing exciton localization related to the compression of its wave function in the field. The exciton wave function compression continues until its radius in the plane of the well is comparable with the radius of the "flat island" characterized by constant QW width. Accordingly, from the magnetic field dependence of the shake-up satellite intensity we can roughly estimate the size of the "flat islands" and consequently probe the interface roughness.     

Electroluminescence from modulation-doped pseudomorphic AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells

Low-temperature electroluminescence (EL) is observed in n-type modulation-doped AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs quantum well samples by applying a positive voltage between the semitransparent Au gate and alloyed Au-Ge Ohmic contacts made on the top surface of the samples. We attribute impact ionization in the InGaAs QW to the observed EL from the samples. A redshift in the EL spectra is observed with increasing gate bias. The observed redshift in the EL spectra is attributed to the band gap renormalization due to many-body effects and quantum-confined Stark effect.     

Photoluminescence in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells associated with excited confinement subbands

We report on photoluminescence emission features which are observed from GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum wells only at elevated temperatures (T>10K), using weak cw laser excitation. These features have energies higher than those of the heavy and light hole excitons and are associated with interband transitions between excited confinement conduction and valence subbands. Their energies are compared with values calculated from measured well dimensions and accepted band parameters for a series of samples with well widths between 80 and 375Å.     

Spin excitations in few-electrons AlGaAs/GaAs quantum dots probed by inelastic light scattering

We present recent studies of electronic excitations in nanofabricated AlGaAs/GaAs semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) by resonant inelastic light scattering. The resonant light scattering spectra are dominated by excitations from parity-allowed inter-shell transitions between Fock–Darwin levels. In QDs with very few electrons the resonant spectra are characterized by distinct charge and spin excitations that reveal the strong impact of both exchange and correlation effects. A sharp inter-shell spin excitation of the triplet spin QD state with four electrons is identified.