Strain Effects on the Optical Polarization Properties of R-Plane Wurtzite GaN

Using the effective-mass Hamiltonian for an arbitrary direction wurtzite semiconductor on the basis of k.p theory, we investigate the strain effects on the transition energies and optical properties in the R-plane ([1012]-oriented plane) GaN. The results show that (1) the transition energies decrease with the biaxial strains changing from -0.5 to 0.5%; and (2) giant optical anisotropy appears in the R-plane which is significantly affected by the biaxial strains. We clarify the relation between the strains and the polarization properties. Finally, we discuss the application of these properties to the R-plane GaN based devices. (c) 2009 The Japan Society of Applied Physics

Symmetry and optical transition rule for low-dimensional semiconductor system with spin-orbit interaction and magnetic field

Starting from effective mass Hamiltonian, we systematically investigate the symmetry of low-dimensional structures with spin-orbit interaction and transverse magnetic field. The position-dependent potentials are assumed to be space symmetric, which is ever-present in theory and experiment research. By group theory, we analyze degeneracy in different cases. Spin-orbit interaction makes the transition between Zeeman sub-levels possible, which is originally forbidden within dipole approximation. However, a transition rule given in this paper for the first time shows that the transition between some levels is forbidden for space symmetric potentials. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electronic structure and optical property of semiconductor nanocrystallites

Semiconductor nanostructures show many special physical properties associated with quantum confinement effects, and have many applications in the opto-electronic and microelectronic fields. However, it is difficult to calculate their electronic states by the ordinary plane wave or linear combination of atomic orbital methods. In this paper, we review some of our works in this field, including semiconductor clusters, self-assembled quantum dots, and diluted magnetic semiconductor quantum dots. In semiconductor clusters we introduce energy bands and effective-mass Hamiltonian of wurtzite structure semiconductors, electronic structures and optical properties of spherical clusters, ellipsoidal clusters, and nanowires. In self-assembled quantum dots we introduce electronic structures and transport properties of quantum rings and quantum dots, and resonant tunneling of 3-dimensional quantum dots. In diluted magnetic semiconductor quantum dots we introduce magnetic-optical properties, and magnetic field tuning of the effective g factor in a diluted magnetic semiconductor quantum dot. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electronic structure of ZnO wurtzite quantum wires

The electronic structure and optical properties of ZnO wurtzite quantum wires with radius R >= 3 nm are studied in the framework of six-band effective-mass envelope function theory. The hole effective-mass parameters of ZnO wurtzite material are calculated by the empirical pseudopotential method. It is found that the electron states are either two-fold or four-fold degenerate. There is a dark exciton effect when the radius R of the ZnO quantum wires is in the range of [3,19.1] nm (dark range in our model). The dark ranges of other wurtzite semiconductor quantum wires are calculated for comparison. The dark range becomes smaller when the |Delta(so)| is larger, which also happens in the quantum-dot systems. The linear polarization factor of ZnO quantum wires is larger when the temperature is higher.

EFFECTS OF AN EXTERNAL MAGNETIC-FIELD ON SHALLOW DONOR LEVELS IN SEMICONDUCTORS

An extension of Faulkner's method for the energy levels of the shallow donor in silicon and germanium at zero field is made in order to investigate the effects of a magnetic field upon the excited states. The effective-mass Hamiltonian matrix elements of an electron bound to a donor center and subjected to a magnetic field B, which involves both the linear and quadratic terms of magnetic field, are expressed analytically and matrices are solved numerically. The photothermal ionization spectroscopy of phosphorus in ultrapure silicon for magnetic fields parallel to the [1,0,0] and [1,1,1] directions and up to 10 T is explained successfully.

Electronic properties of zinc-blende GaN, AlN, and their alloys Ga1-xAlxN

The electronic properties of wide-energy gap zinc-blende structure GaN, A1N, and their alloys Ga(1-x)A1(x)N are investigated using the empirical pseudopotential method. Electron and hole effective mass parameters, hydrostatic and shear deformation potential constants of the valence band at Gamma and those of the conduction band at Gamma and X are obtained for GaN and AIN, respectively. The energies of Gamma, X, L conduction valleys of Ga(1-x)A1(x)N alloy versus Al fraction x are also calculated. The information will be useful for the design of lattice mismatched heterostructure optoelectronic devices based on these materials in the blue light range application. (C) 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Band structure parameters of zinc-blende GaN, AlN and their alloys Ga1-xAlxN

The electronic properties of wide energy gap zinc-blende structure GaN, AlN and their alloys Ga1-xAlxN are investigated using the empirical pseudopotential method. Electron and hole Effective mass parameters, hydrostatic and shear deformation potential constants of the valence band at Gamma and those of the conduction band at Gamma and X are obtained. The energies of Gamma, X, L conduction valleys of Ga1-xAlxN alloy versus Al fraction x are also calculated. The information will be useful for the design of lattice mismatched heterostructure optoelectronic devices in the blue light range.

Design of Tensile Strained InGaAsP/InGaAsP MQW for 1.55μmpolarization Indepent Semiconductor Optical Amplifier

The theoretical optimization of tensile strained InGaAsP/InGaAsP MQW for 1.5μm window polarization-independent semiconductor optical amplifier is reported. The valence-band structure of the MQw is calculated by using K·P method, in which 6×6 Luttinger effective-mass Hamiltonian is taken into account. LThe polarization dependent optical gain is calculated with various well width, strain, and carrier density.

Electronic structure and optical property of semiconductor nanocrystallites

Semiconductor nanostructures show many special physical properties associated with quantum confinement effects, and have many applications in the opto-electronic and microelectronic fields. However, it is difficult to calculate their electronic states by the ordinary plane wave or linear combination of atomic orbital methods. In this paper, we review some of our works in this field, including semiconductor clusters, self-assembled quantum dots, and diluted magnetic semiconductor quantum dots. In semiconductor clusters we introduce energy bands and effective-mass Hamiltonian of wurtzite structure semiconductors, electronic structures and optical properties of spherical clusters, ellipsoidal clusters, and nanowires. In self-assembled quantum dots we introduce electronic structures and transport properties of quantum rings and quantum dots, and resonant tunneling of 3-dimensional quantum dots. In diluted magnetic semiconductor quantum dots we introduce magnetic-optical properties, and magnetic field tuning of the effective g factor in a diluted magnetic semiconductor quantum dot. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Strain effects on optical polarisation properties in (11(2)over-bar2) plane GaN films

We present the theoretical results of the electronic band structure of wurtzite GaN films under biaxial strains in the (11 (2) over bar2)-plane The calculations are performed by the kappa p perturbation theory approach through using the effective-mass Hamiltonian for an arbitrary direction The results show that the transition energies decrease with the biaxial strains changing from -0 5% to 0 5% For films of (11 (2) over bar2)-plane, the strains are expected to be anisotropic in the growth plane Such anisotropic strains give rise to valence band mixing which results in dramatic change in optical polarisation property The strain can also result in optical polarisation switching phenomena Finally, we discuss the applications of these properties to the (11 (2) over bar2) plane GaN based light emitting diode and lase diode

Electron and hole states in diluted magnetic semiconductor quantum dots

The electronic structure of a diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS) quantum dot (QD) is studied within the framework of the effective-mass theory. We find that the energies of the electron with different spin orientation exhibit different behavior as a function of magnetic field at small magnetic fields. The energies of the hole decreases rapidly at low magnetic fields and saturate at higher magnetic field due to the sp-d exchange interaction between the carriers and the magnetic ions. The mixing effect of the hole states in the DMS QD can be tuned by changing the external magnetic field. An interesting crossing behavior of the hole ground state between the heavy-hole state and the light-hole state is found with variation of the QD radius. The strength of the interband optical transition for different circular polarization exhibts quite different behavior with increasing magnetic field and QD radius.

Excitonic energy of vertically stacked self-assmbled InAs quantum dots

We have studied the exciton states in vertically stacked self-assembled quantum disks within the effective mass approximation. The energy spectrum of the electron and hole is calculated using the transfer matrix formalism in the adiabatic approximation. The Coulomb interaction between the electron and the hole is treated accurately by the direct diagonalization of the Hamiltonian matrix. The effect of the vertical alignment of the disks on the ground energy of heavy- and light-hole exciton is presented and discussed. The binding energy is discussed in terms of the probability of the ground wave function. The ground energy of heavy- and light-hole excitons as a function of the magnetic field is presented and the effect of the disk size (the radius of disks) on the exciton energy is discussed.

Hole Rashba effect and g-factor in InP nanowires

The hole Rashba effect and g-factor in InP nanowires in the presence of electric and magnetic fields which bring spin splitting are investigated theoretically in the framework of eight-band effective-mass envelop function theory, by expanding the lateral wave function in Bessel functions. It is well known that the electron Rashba coefficient increases nearly linearly with the electric field. As the Rashba spin splitting is zero at zero k(z) ( the wave vector along the wire direction), the electron g-factor at k(z) = 0 changes little with the electric field. While we find that as the electric field increases, the hole Rashba coefficient increases at first, then decreases. It is noticed that the hole Rashba coefficient is zero at a critical electric field. The hole g-factor at k(z) = 0 changes obviously with the electric field.

Electronic structure and g factors of narrow-gap zinc-blende nanowires and nanorods

The Hamiltonian in the framework of eight-band effective-mass approximation of the zinc-blende nanowires and nanorods in the presence of external homogeneous magnetic field is given in the cylindrical coordinate. The electronic structure, optical properties, magnetic energy levels, and g factors of the nanowires and nanorods are calculated. It is found that the electron states consist of many hole-state components, due to the coupling of the conduction band and valence band. For the normal bands which are monotone functions of |k(z)|, long nanorods can be modeled by the nanowires, the energy levels of the nanorods approximately equal the values of the energy band E(k(z)) of the nanowires with the same radius at a special k(z), where k(z) is the wave vector in the wire direction. Due to the coupling of the states, some of the hole energy bands of the nanowires have their highest points at k(z)=0. Especially, the highest hole state of the InSb nanowires is not at the k(z)=0 point. It is an indirect band gap. For these abnormal bands, nanorods can not be modeled by the nanowires. The energy levels of the nanorods show an interesting plait-like pattern. The linear polarization factor is zero, when the aspect ratio L/2R is smaller than 1, and increases as the length increases. The g(z) and g(x) factors as functions of the k(z), radius R and length L are calculated for the wires and rods, respectively. For the wires, the g(z) of the electron ground state increases, and the g(z) of the hole ground state decreases first, then increases with the k(z) increasing. For the rods, the g(z) and g(x) of the electron ground state decrease as the R or the L increases. The g(x) of the hole ground state decreases, the g(z) of the hole ground state increases with the L increasing. The variation of the g(z) of the wires with the k(z) is in agreement with the variation of the g(z) of the rods with the L.

Electronic structures of wurtzite ZnO and ZnO/MgZnO quantum well

The band structures of wurtzite ZnO are calculated using the empirical pseudopotential method (EPM). The 8 parameters of the Zn and O atom pesudopotential form factors with Schluter's formula are obtained. The effective mass parameters are extracted by using k.p Hamiltonian to fit the EPM results. The calculated band edge energies (E-g, E-A, E-B, and E-C) at Gamma point are in good agreement with experimental results. The ordering of ZnO at the top of valence band is found to be A(Gamma(7))-B(Gamma(9))-C(Gamma(7)) due to a negative spin-orbit (SO) splitting. Based on the band parameters obtained, the valence hole subbands of wurzite ZnO/MgxZn1-xO tensile-strained quantum wells (QWs) with different well widths and Mg compositions are calculated using 6-band k.p method. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.