Formation of islands of condensed exciton phases in semiconductor quantum wells in inhomogeneous fields

The appearance and properties of the structures in the density distribution of indirect excitons in a quantum well plane in semiconductors in an electric field have been studied for the case where a metallic electrode has a circular orifice. It has been shown that the inhomogeneous structures in the exciton density (islands and rings with an increased exciton density) appear, because the condensed exciton phase is present and the system is nonequilibrium due both to the finiteness of the exciton lifetime and to pumping. The dependences of the structure on the system parameters (window sizes, temperature, and pumping intensity) are in agreement with the experimental results reported by A.V. Gorbunov and V.B. Timofeev, Pis’ma Zh. Éksp. Teor. Fiz. 83, 178 (2006) [JETP Lett. 83, 146 (2006)]; Usp. Fiz. Nauk 176, 652 (2006) [Phys. Usp. 49, 629 (2006)]; Pis’ma Zh. Éksp. Teor. Fiz. 84, 390 (2006) [JETP Lett. 84, 329 (2006)].     

Self-consistent approach for calculations of exciton binding energy in quantum wells

We introduce a computationally efficient approach to calculating characteristics of excitons in quantum wells. In this approach we derive a system of self-consistent equations describing the motion of an electron–hole pair. The motion in the growth direction of the quantum well in this approach is separated from the in-plane motion, but each of them occurs in modified potentials found self-consistently. The approach is applied to shallow quantum wells, for which we obtained an analytical expression for the exciton binding energy and the ground state eigenfunction. Our numerical results yield lower exciton binding energies in comparison to standard variational calculations, while require reduced computational effort.     

Dielectric enhancement of the exciton energies in laser-dressed near-surface quantum wells

A theoretical study of the intense high-frequency laser field effect on the interband transitions and on the ground (1S-like) and excited (2S-like) exciton states in InGaAs/GaAs near-surface quantum wells is performed within the effective mass approximation. The carrier confinement potentials and image charge contributions to the Coulomb interaction can significantly be modified and controlled by the capped layer thickness and laser field intensity. We found that: (i) the interband and exciton transition energies monotonically enhance with the laser amplitude; (ii) for small capped layers the splitting between the 2S and 1S exciton lines are more sensitive to the dressing laser parameter, and (iii) for high enough laser intensities the dressing effects on both confining potential and Coulomb interactions can yield entirely different exciton emission spectra depending on the cap layer thickness. Our results are compared with the theoretical and experimental data obtained in the absence of the laser field and a good agreement is reached.     

Exciton-phonon interaction in cylindrical semiconductor quantum dots

The exciton-longitudinal optical phonon interaction is theoretically investigated for the case of polar semiconductor cylindrical quantum dots embedded in semiconductor matrix. The theory is developed within the dielectric continuum model considering the Fröhlich interaction between electrons and confined bulk longitudinal optical phonons for a configurational interaction model of quantum dot. Representative longitudinal optical phonon mode for the exciton-phonon interaction is predicted for cylindrical InAs/GaAs quantum dots.     

Stark effect of negatively and positively charged excitons in semiconductor quantum wells

We study the effect of an electric field applied normal to the layers on the binding energy of charged excitons (or trions) in GaAs quantum wells. We find that, in contrast to the neutral exciton, their binding energy is sharply reduced by modest electric fields. The effect is stronger for the positively charged exciton than the negatively charged one. The ionisation of the excess carrier is explained by the field-induced polarisation of the electron and hole subband wave functions.     

Radiative recombination of indirect exciton in type-II ZnSeTe/ZnSe multiple quantum wells

The tunability of the emission energy, oscillator strength and photoluminescence (PL) efficiency by varying the well thickness and excitation density was demonstrated in the ZnSe_0.8Te_0.2/ZnSe multiple quantum wells. A significant blueshift about 260 meV of the PL peak energy was observed as the well width decreased from 5 to 1 nm. An extraordinary long lifetime (300 ns) of the recombination for the widest sample was detected. The binding energy of the indirect excitons is determined as 12 meV for the thinnest sample. The reduction of PL efficiency by thermal energy is greatly suppressed by employing a high excitation power.     

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.     

The effects of indium segregation on exciton binding energy and oscillator strength in GaInAs/GaAs quantum wells

We solve analytically the Schrödinger equation taking into account the shape changes of GaInAs/GaAs quantum wells due to indium segregation during the MBE growth by using transfer matrix method. The indium compositional profiles of the quantum wells are provided using the phenomenological model. The fundamental transition energy, binding energy and oscillator strength of excitons as a function of indium segregation coefficient R$R$ and well width are studied. For narrow wells (less than 40 ML), the exciton binding energy and oscillator strength decrease, but for wide wells (larger than 40 ML), increase with increasing the segregation coefficient R$R$. It is shown that indium segregation degrades the optical properties and results in a blue-shift of exciton transition energy in GaInAs/GaAs quantum wells.     

Phase transitions of indirect excitons in coupled quantum wells: The role of disorder

The theory of what happens to a superfluid in a random field, known as the “dirty boson” problem, directly relates to a real experimental system presently under study by several groups, namely excitons in coupled semiconductor quantum wells. We consider the case of bosons in two dimensions in a random field, when the random field can be large compared to the repulsive exciton–exciton interaction energy, but is small compared to the exciton binding energy. The interaction between excitons is taken into account in the ladder approximation. The coherent potential approximation (CPA) allows us to derive the exciton Green's function for a wide range of the random field strength, and in the weak-scattering limit CPA results in the second-order Born approximation. For quasi-two-dimensional excitonic systems, the density of the superfluid component and the Kosterlitz–Thouless temperature of the superfluid phase transition are obtained, and are found to decrease as the random field increases.     

Resonant elastic scattering of light from single quantum wells in semiconductor multilayers

A theory is developed for steady-state elastic scattering of light via quasi-2D excitons from a quantum well (QW) whose interfaces are randomly rough. The study is mainly focused on the angle dependences of radiation giving direct information about static disorder responsible for the elastic scattering. A nonlocal excitonic susceptibility is expressed in terms of random profile functions of QW interfaces. Treated is elastic scattering of light from a disordered QW in the following actual dielectric environments: (i) a uniform background, (ii) a Fabry–Perot film with rough boundaries, and (iii) a semiconductor microcavity. The cross-sections are derived analytically for scattering of linearly polarized light to the lowest (Born's) approximation with arbitrary roughness statistics. The spectral and angle dependencies of scattering intensity are analyzed numerically in the absolute-value scale with Gaussian correlation of interface roughness. The probability 10⁻² was found for the exciton-mediated scattering of a photon from a QW interface roughness whose root-mean-square height is on the level of 2×10⁻¹ nm. This probability is shown to exceed by two orders of magnitude that is typical of resonant scattering from either a single semiconductor surface or rough boundaries of a semiconductor Fabry–Perot film containing the QW. The scattering spectrum of a QW placed in a microcavity is predicted to have a doublet structure whose components are associated with the cavity exciton–polaritons.     

Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction in semiconductor quantum wells

We theoretically investigate the Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction in AlAs/GaAs/Al_0.3Ga_0.7As/AlAs step-quantum wells. The ratio of Rashba and Dresselhaus spin splitting can be effectively manipulated by the well width and step width in the absence of electric field and magnetic field. When the well width of the step-quantum well is wider than 10 nm, the total spin splitting, which contains the contribution of interface as well as linear and cubic Dresselhaus terms, is always the greatest when the width of GaAs layer equals to about 2 nm. When the well width is wider than 2 nm, two different step widths can meet the SU(2) symmetry conditions, the smaller one of them results in maximum spin relaxation time. We also predict the application of the step-quantum well in spintronic devices.     

Theoretical study of indirect excitons’ lifetime in coupled AlGaN/GaN quantum wells in the presence of an electrostatic trap

The lifetime of electrostatically trapped indirect excitons in a field-effect structure based on coupled AlGaN/GaN quantum wells has been theoretically studied. Within the plane of a double quantum well, indirect excitons are trapped between the surfaces of the AlGaN/GaN heterostructures and a semitransparent metallic top gate. The trapping mechanism has been assumed to be a combination of the quantum confined Stark effect and local field enhancement. In order to study the trapped exciton lifetime, the binding energy of indirect excitons in coupled quantum wells is calculated by finite difference method in the presence of an electric field. Thus, the lifetime of trapped excitons is computed as a function of well width, AlGaN barrier width, the position of double quantum well in the device and applied voltage.     

Optical anisotropy and the direction of polarization of exciton emissions in a semiconductor quantum dot:Effect of heavy-and light-hole mixing

The dependence of the directions of polarization of exciton emissions, fine structure splittings(FSS), and polarization anisotropy on the light-and heavy-hole(LH–HH) mixing in semiconductor quantum dots(QDs) is investigated using a mesoscopic model. In general, all QDs have a four-fold exciton ground state. Two exciton states have directions of polarization in the growth-plane, while the other two are along the growth direction of the QD. The LH–HH mixing does affect the FSS and polarization anisotropy of bright exciton states in the growth-plane in the low symmetry QDs(e.g., C_(2V),C_S, C_1), while it has no effect on the FSS and polarization anisotropy in high symmetry QDs(e.g., C_(3V), D_(2d)). When the hole ground state is pure HH or LH, the bright exciton states in the growth-plane are normal to each other. The LH–HH mixing affects the relative intensities and directions of bright exciton states in the growth-plane of the QD. The polarization anisotropy of exciton emissions in the growth-plane of the QD is independent of the phase angle of LH–HH mixing but strongly depends on the magnitude of LH–HH mixing in low symmetry QDs.     

Magneto-optical properties and exciton dynamics in diluted magnetic semiconductor nanostructures

Nanostructures of diluted magnetic semiconductors were fabricated to study novel magneto-optical properties that are derived from quantum confined band electrons interacting with magnetic ions. Quantum dots (QDs) of Cd_0.97Mn_0.03Se were grown by the self-organization on a ZnSe substrate layer. QDs of Zn_0.69Cd_0.23Mn_0.08Se and quantum wires (QWRs) of Cd_0.92Mn_0.08Se and Zn_0.69Cd_0.23Mn_0.08Se were fabricated by the electron beam lithography. A single quantum well (QW) of ZnTe/Zn_0.97Mn_0.03Te and double QWs of Cd_0.95Mn_0.05Te–CdTe were grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Magneto-optical properties and the formation and relaxation dynamics of excitons were investigated by ultrafast time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Excitons in these nanostructures were affected by the low-dimensional confinement effects and the interaction with magnetic ion spins. The exciton luminescence of the Cd_0.97Mn_0.03Se QDs shows the confined exciton energy due to the dot size of 4–6 nm and also shows marked increase of the exciton lifetime with increasing the magnetic field. The QDs of Zn_0.69Cd_0.23Mn_0.08Se fabricated by the electron beam lithography display narrow exciton PL spectrum due to the uniform shape of the dots. The exciton luminescence from the QWRs of Cd_0.92Mn_0.08Se and Zn_0.69Cd_0.23Mn_0.08Se shows the influence of the one-dimensional confinement effect for the exciton energy and the luminescence is linearly polarized parallel to the wire direction. The transient PL from the ZnTe/Zn_0.97Mn_0.03Te QWs displays, by the magnetic field, the level crossing of the exciton spin states of the nonmagnetic and magnetic layers and the spatial spin separation for the excitons. Cd_0.95Mn_0.05Te–CdTe double QWs show the injection of the spin polarized excitons from the magnetic well to the nonmagnetic QW.     

Interparticle interaction in spin-aligned and spin-degenerate exciton systems in II–VI quantum wells

Il Nuovo Cimento D - Two qualitatively different e-h systems have been investigated in undoped CdTe/Cd0.88Mn0.12Te and Cd0.97Mn0.03 Te/Cd0.75Mn0.25 Te QWs at 2 K and magnetic fields up to 14 T,...     

Polaronic exciton in quantum wells wires and nanotubes

We investigate the effect of the longitudinal-optical phonon field on the binding energies of excitons in quantum wells, well-wires and nanotubes based on ionic semiconductors. We take into account the exciton-phonon interaction by using the Aldrich-Bajaj effective potential for Wannier excitons in a polarizable medium. We extend the fractional-dimensional method developed previously for neutral and negatively charged donors to calculate the exciton binding energies in these heterostructures. In this method, the exciton wave function is taken as a product of the ground state functions of the electron polaron and hole polaron with a correlation function that depends only on the electron-hole separation. Starting from the variational principle we derive a one-dimensional differential equation, which is solved numerically by using the trigonometric sweep method. We find that the potential that takes into account polaronic effects always give rise to larger exciton binding energies than those obtained using a Coulomb potential screened by a static dielectric constant. This enhancement of the binding energy is more considerable in quantum wires and nanotubes than in quantum wells. Our results for quantum wells are in a good agreement with previous variational calculations. Also, we present novel curves of the exciton binding energies as a function of the wire and nanotubes radii for different models of the confinement potential.     

Size distribution and concentration of islands of a condensed exciton phase in a quantum well

A theory describing the formation of condensed-phase regions at a high concentration of excitons in a quantum well is constructed. The condensed phase can be either an exciton or an electron-hole liquid. When the condensed phase and exciton gas coexist, islands of the condensed phase have the shape of disks. A simultaneous solution to the kinetic equation (determining the island sizes) and the diffusion equation for excitons outside the islands is obtained for stationary pumping. It is assumed that the exciton gas is nondegenerate outside the islands. The mutual influence of islands through the concentration fields of excitons is taken into account assuming that the mean radius of islands substantially exceeds the mean distance between them. The radius distribution and concentration of islands are determined as functions of the rate of exciton production and the parameters of the system. It is found that the radius distribution of islands is broadened near the threshold of formation of the condensed phase.     

Tuning of exciton states in a magnetic quantum ring

The exciton states in a CdTe quantum ring subjected to an external magnetic field containing a single magnetic impurity are investigated. We have used the multiband approximation which includes the heavy hole–light hole coupling effects. The electron–hole spin interactions and the s, p–d interactions between the electron, the hole and the magnetic impurity are also included. The exciton energy levels and optical transitions are evaluated using the exact diagonalization scheme. We show that due to the spin interactions it is possible to change the bright exciton state into the dark state and vice versa with the help of a magnetic field. We propose a new route to experimentally estimate the s, p–d spin interaction constants.