Intersubband absorption in strained AlGaN/GaN double quantum wells

The intersubband absorption of the four-energy-level system in strained AlGaN/GaN double quantum wells is calculated by considering the polarization effect and the strain modification on material parameters (e.g., the conduction band offset, the electron effective mass and the static dielectric constant). It is found that the electron wavefunctions mainly locate at the left well and penetrate into the left barrier. The absorption spectrum exhibits multiple peaks contributed by different transitions. The position and height of absorption peaks are not very sensitive to the structural parameters (i.e., composition and thickness) of the central barrier because of the strong built-in electric field. However, the coupling between two wells can be enhanced by strain modulation.     

Electric field effects on the linear and nonlinear intersubband optical properties of double semi-parabolic quantum wells

In this work, the effects of the electric field on the optical properties of the symmetric and asymmetric double semi-parabolic quantum wells (DSPQWs) are investigated numerically for typical GaAs/Al_xGa_1−xAs. Optical properties are obtained using the compact density matrix approach. Our calculations for the asymmetric DSPQW show that the resonant peak values of the total refractive index change and total optical absorption coefficient are maximum for a certain value of the applied electric field, due to the anti-crossing effect. However, for the symmetric DSPQW, the resonant peak values of these optical properties decrease monotonically with increasing the applied electric field. Also, our results indicate that a larger value of the optical rectification coefficient of the symmetric DSPQW can be induced by applying a small electric field.     

Magnetic field effect on transitions between direct and indirect excitons in diluted magnetic semiconductor double quantum wells

Transitions between direct and indirect excitons with change of magnetic field in double quantum well heterostructure Cd_1−xMg_xTe/Cd_1−yMg_yTe/Cd_1−xMg_xTe/Cd_1−zMn_zTe/Cd_1−xMg_xTe in external magnetic field are studied. The structure contains diluted magnetic semiconductor (Cd,Mn)Te layer that forms magnetic quantum well with the depth depending on the magnetic field intensity. Above some magnetic field the indirect exciton becomes the lowest excited state of the system. The indirect exciton lifetime exceeds by several orders of magnitude of the direct exciton one. The range of quantum well widths for which the indirect exciton is the exciton lowest state was estimated for the proposed system.     

Cyclotron resonance in asymmetric double quantum wells

Far-infrared magnetotransmission measurements in magnetic fields are carried out on asymmetric coupled double wells. We observe a splitting in the cyclotron resonance (CR) line for a wide range of intermediate magnetic fields and only one line at high magnetic fields. Two peaks observed in the CR spectra correspond to transitions between Landau levels in individual wells. We propose that phase transition between weak and strong coupling regimes may be responsible for the features. The characteristics of the transition are studied via an analysis of CR masses, CR splitting and line widths as a function of the magnetic field.     

Photoluminescence of n-doped double quantum well—electron subbands under influence of in-plane magnetic fields

We report on photoluminescence (PL) measurements of a GaAs/AlGaAs double quantum well (DQW) in high magnetic fields. Measurements were carried out on a selectively contacted symmetric p-δn-DQW-δn-p structure, which allows a variation of the electron density in DQW by a p–n bias and simultaneously a tilting of DQW, when a p–p bias is applied. Attention was paid to phenomena in in-plane magnetic fields, theoretically studied by Huang and Lyo (HL), [Phys. Rev. B 59, (1999) 7600]. In this paper, we compare our results for both symmetric and asymmetric DQWs with the theoretical model made by HL. Whereas the spectra from a symmetric DQW fully confirmed the theoretical predictions, the results gained from DQW with an electric-field-induced asymmetry did not allow a proper study of anticipated effects. The reasons for that are discussed.     

Linear and nonlinear intersubband optical absorption and refractive index changes of asymmetric double semi-parabolic quantum wells

The optical properties of the asymmetric double semi-parabolic quantum wells (DSPQWs) are investigated numerically for typical GaAs/Al_xGa_1−xAs. Optical properties are obtained using the compact density matrix approach. In this work, effects of the structure parameters such as the barrier width and the well widths on the optical properties of the asymmetric DSPQWs are investigated. The results show that the linear and nonlinear optical properties of asymmetric DSPQW are non-monotonic functions of these structure parameters. The behavior of the refractive index changes of asymmetric DSPQW with the variation of the barrier width is different substantially with that of symmetric DSPQW. Results reveal that the resonant peak values of the total absorption coefficient of asymmetric DSPQW is usually greater than that of symmetric DSPQW. Our calculations also show that the total absorption coefficient of asymmetric DSPQW is larger than that of asymmetric double square quantum well.     

Laser effects on the donor states in V-shaped and inverse V-shaped quantum wells

Laser effects on the electronic states in GaAs/ Ga_1−xAl_xAs V-shaped and inverse V-shaped quantum wells under a static electric field are studied using the transfer matrix method. The dependence of the donor binding energy on the laser field strength and the density of states associated with the impurity is also calculated. It is demonstrated that in inverse V-shaped quantum wells under electric fields, with an asymmetric distribution of the electron density, the position of the binding energy maximum versus the impurity location in the structure can be adjusted by the intensity of the laser field. This effect could be used to tune the electronic levels in quantum wells operating under electric and laser fields without modifying the physical size of the structures.     

A novel double quantum well device for THz range frequency detection

A novel device has been proposed which uses a double quantum well structure for the detection of signals in the THz range. The technology for the manufacturing of such devices at this point of time is significantly mature so that such a device may be easily fabricated. The detector frequency may be varied from 10 to 90 THz by changing the well widths from 10 to 30 Å.     

The variation of electronic properties with the doping concentration of modulation-doped AlxGa1−xAs–GaAs double quantum wells

In this paper we have calculated the sub-band structure and the confinement potential of modulation-doped Ga_1−xAl_xAs–GaAs double quantum wells as a function of the doping concentration. The electronic properties of this structure were determined by self-consistent solutions of the Schrödinger and Poisson equations. To understand the effects of doping concentration on band bending, sub-band energies, and sub-band populations, the doping concentration on one right side of the structure is decreased while holding it constant on the left side. We found that at low doping concentrations on the right side, the effects of the doping concentration are more pronounced on band bending and sub-band populations.     

Binding energies of donor impurities in modulation-doped double quantum wells under an electric field

In this study, we have investigated theoretically the binding energies of shallow donor impurities in modulation-doped GaAs/Al_0.33Ga_0.67As double quantum wells (DQWs) under an electric field which is applied along the growth direction for different doping concentrations as a function of the impurity position. The electronic structure of modulation-doped DQWs under an electric field has been investigated by using a self-consistent calculation in the effective-mass approximation. The results obtained show that the carrier density and the depth of the quantum wells in semiconductors may be tuned by changing the doping concentration, the electric field and the structure parameters such as the well and barrier widths. This tunability gives a possibility of use in many electronic and optical devices.     

Linear and nonlinear intersubband optical absorption in symmetric double semi-parabolic quantum wells

The linear and the nonlinear intersubband optical absorption in the symmetric double semi-parabolic quantum wells are investigated for typical GaAs/AlxGa1−xAs. Energy eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of an electron confined in finite potential double quantum wells are calculated by numerical methods from Schrödinger equation. Optical properties are obtained using the compact density matrix approach. In this work, the effects of the barrier width, the well width and the incident optical intensity on the optical properties of the symmetric double semi-parabolic quantum wells are investigated. Our results show that not only optical incident intensity but also structure parameters such as the barrier and the well width really affect the optical characteristics of these structures.     

Laser field induced interband absorption in a strained GaAs/GaAlAs double quantum well system

Effect of laser field intensity on exciton binding energies is investigated in a GaAs/ GaAlAs double quantum well system. Calculations have been carried out with the variational technique within the single band effective mass approximations using a two parametric trial wave function. The interband emission energy as a function of well width is calculated in the influence of laser field. The laser field induced photoionization cross-section for the exciton placed at the centre of the quantum well is computed as a function of normalized photon energy. The dependence of the photoionization cross-section on photon energy is carried out for the excitons. The resulting spectra are brought out for light polarized along and perpendicular to the growth direction. The intense laser field dependence of interband absorption coefficient is investigated. The results show that the exciton binding energy, interband emission energy, the photoionization cross-section and the interband absorption coefficient depend strongly on the well width and the laser field intensity. Our results are compared with the other existing literature available.     

Linear and nonlinear optical absorption in different graded quantum wells modulated by intense laser field

The laser field dependence of the linear and nonlinear intersubband optical absorption in different graded quantum wells (GQWs) is investigated in the effective mass approximation. Results obtained show that the position and the magnitude of the linear and total absorption coefficients depend on the laser parameter and the shape of GQW. The resonant peak of total absorption coefficient can be bleached at sufficiently high incident optical intensities. Such a dependence of the exciting optical intensity on the external field strengths in different GQWs can be very useful for several potential device applications. It should point out that by applying the laser field we can obtain a blue shift or a red shift in the intersubband optical transitions.     

Electron-related optical responses in triple δ-doped quantum wells

A detailed theoretical study on the electron-related optical responses in triple δ-doped GaAs quantum wells in the presence of non-resonant, monochromatic intense laser field is presented. For this purpose, we first obtained the bound subband energy levels and their corresponding envelope wave functions of the structure for different central doping concentrations within the effective-mass approximation. Then, we calculate the effect of the non-resonant intense laser field on the optical properties of this structure using the compact-density-matrix approach via the iterative method. We found that the optical absorption coefficients and refractive index changes in the triple δ-doped GaAs quantum well can be modulated by changing the central doping concentration and the intensity of the non-resonant, monochromatic laser field. In addition, it is shown that a sufficiently intense laser field suppresses the multiple quantum well configuration towards a single potential well one and the optical response becomes practically independent of the δ-doping concentration.     

Resonant modes and inter-well coupling in photonic double quantum well structures with single-negative materials

We investigate the resonance tunneling modes of photonic double quantum well made of two photonic crystals with two different single-negative materials. It is found that these resonance modes split pairs, due to a coupling between two photonic wells. It is observed that when two photonic quantum wells are far away from each other, resonance modes appear as a single peak. And the quality factors of the transmittance resonance peaks can be greatly improved by increasing the period number of the outer barrier. The effects of the losses coming from ENG and MNG materials on the resonance modes are also specifically explored.     

Phonon-assisted intersubband transitions in wurtziteGaN/InxGal_xN quantum wells

A detailed numerical calculation on the phonon-assisted intersubband transition rates of electrons in wurtzite GaN/In x Ga 1 x N quantum wells is presented. The quantum-confined Stark effect, induced by the built-in electric field, and the ternary mixed crystal effect are considered. The electron states are obtained by iteratively solving the coupled Schrdinger and Poisson equations. The dispersion properties of each type of phonon modes are considered in the derivation of Fermi’s golden rule to evaluate the transition rates. It is indicated that the interface and half-space phonon scattering play an important role in the process of 1-2 radiative transition. The transition rate is also greatly reduced by the built-in electric field. This work can be helpful for the structural design and simulation of new semiconductor lasers.     

Magnetic field effects on THz quantum cascade laser: A comparative analysis of three and four quantum well based active region design

We consider the influence of additional carrier confinement, achieved by application of strong perpendicular magnetic field, on inter Landau levels electron relaxation rates and the optical gain, of two different GaAs quantum cascade laser structures operating in the terahertz spectral range. Breaking of the in-plane energy dispersion and the formation of discrete energy levels is an efficient mechanism for eventual quenching of optical phonon emission and obtaining very long electronic lifetime in the relevant laser state. We employ our detailed model for calculating the electron relaxation rates (due to interface roughness and electron–longitudinal optical phonon scattering), and solve a full set of rate equations to evaluate the carrier distribution over Landau levels. The numerical simulations are performed for three- and four-well (per period) based structures that operate at 3.9 THz and 1.9 THz, respectively, both implemented in GaAs/Al_0.15Ga_0.85As. Numerical results are presented for magnetic field values from 1.5 T up to 20 T, while the band nonparabolicity is accounted for.     

Optical second harmonic generation in asymmetric double triangular quantum wells

The second harmonic generation (SHG) in the asymmetric double triangular quantum wells (DTQWs) is investigated theoretically. The dependence of the SHG coefficient on the right-well width of the DTQWs is studied, and the influence of the applied electric field on SHG coefficient is also taken into account. The analytical expression of the SHG coefficient is analyzed by using the compact density-matrix approach and the iterative method. Finally, the numerical calculations are presented for the typical GaAs/Al_xGa_1−xAs asymmetric DTQWs. The results show that the calculated SHG coefficient in this coupled system can reach the magnitude of 10⁻⁵ m/V, 1–2 orders of magnitude higher than that in step quantum well, and that in double square quantum wells. Moreover, the SHG coefficient is not a monotonic function of the right-well width, but has complex relationship with it. The calculated results also reveal that an applied electric field has a great influence on the SHG coefficient. Applying an appropriate electric field to a DTQW with a wider right well can induce a sharper peak of the SHG coefficient due to the double-resonant enhancement.