Magnitude and polarity of strain-induced fields in pseudomorphic In0.22Ga0.8As quantum well structures on (112) GaAs substrates

When pseudomorphic (In,Ga)As/(Al,Ga)As heterostructures are grown on certain surfaces of the general crystallographic planes of GaAs denoted by (11l), the strain in the structures induces an electric field because of the piezoelectric nature of the III-V semiconductors. We report the experimental determination of the direction and magnitude of the strain-induced electric field by photoluminescence spectroscopy on one of these substrate surfaces: the one for which l = 2. We confirm that for the two surfaces of the (112) GaAs substrate, the induced field is directed out of the substrate for the A surface and toward the substrate for the B surface.