Observations on subband electron properties in In0.65Ga0.35As/In0.52Al0.48As MM-HEMT with Si delta-doped on the barriers

Magneto-transport measurements have been carried out on a Si delta-doped In0.65Ga0.35As/In0.52Al0.48As metamorphic high-electron-mobility transistor with InP substrate in a temperature range between 1.5 and 60 K under magnetic field up to 13 T. We studied the Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) effect and the Hall effect for the In0.65Ga0.35As/In0.52Al0.48As single quantum well occupied by two subbands and obtained the electron concentration and energy levels respectively. We solve the Schrodinger-Kohn-Sham equation in conjunction with the Poisson equation self-consistently and obtain the configuration of conduction band, the distribution of carriers concentration, the energy level of every subband and the Fermi energy. The calculational results are well consistent with the results of experiments. Both experimental and calculational results indicate that almost all of the delta-doped electrons transfer into the quantum well in the temperature range between 1.5 and 60 K.

Electronic structure of Mn-doped ZnO quantum wires: A mean-field theory study

Based on the effective-mass model and the mean-field approximation, we investigate the energy levels of the electron and hole states of the Mn-doped ZnO quantum wires (x=0.0018) in the presence of the external magnetic field. It is found that either twofold degenerated electron or fourfold degenerated hole states split in the field. The splitting energy is about 100 times larger than those of undoped cases. There is a dark exciton effect when the radius R is smaller than 16.6 nm, and it is independent of the effective doped Mn concentration. The lowest state transitions split into six Zeeman components in the magnetic field, four sigma(+/-) and two pi polarized Zeeman components, their splittings depend on the Mn-doped concentration, and the order of pi and sigma(+/-) polarized Zeeman components is reversed for thin quantum wires (R < 2.3 nm) due to the quantum confinement effect.

Stark and rashba effects in GaN nanowires

The effects of an external electric field on the electronic structure of GaN nanowires, as well as GaAs nanowires for comparison, are investigated theoretically. It is found that there is an anti-crossing effect in GaN nanowires caused by a small electric field, the hole energy levels, hole wave functions, and optical oscillator strengths change dramatically when the radius (R) is around a critical radius (R-c), while this effect is absent in GaAs nanowires. When R is slightly smaller than R-c, the highest hole states are optically dark in the absence of the electric field, and a small electric field can change them to be optically bright, due to the coupling of hole states brought by the field. The Rashba spin-orbit effect is also studied. The electron Rashba coefficient alpha increases linearly with the electric field. While the hole Rashba coefficients beta do not increase linearly, but have complicated relationships with the electric field.

Geometrical-confinement effects on two electrons in elliptical quantum dots

The effects of the geometrical shape on two electrons confined in a two-dimensional parabolic quantum dot and subjected to an external uniform magnetic field have been calculated using a variational-perturbation method based on a direct construction of trial wave functions. The calculations show that both the energy levels and the spin transition of two electrons in elliptical quantum dots are dramatically influenced by the shape of the dots. The ground states with total spin S=0 and S=1 are affected greatly by changing the magnetic field and the geometrical confinement. The quantum behavior of elliptical quantum dots show some relation to that of laterally coupled quantum dots. For a special geometric configuration of the confinement omega(y)/omega(x)=2.0, we encounter a characteristic magnetic field at which spin singlet-triplet crossover occurs. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Giant Zeeman splitting in manganese-doped ZnSe quantum spheres: Eight-band effective-mass calculations

We deduce the eight-band effective-mass Hamiltonian model for a manganese-doped ZnSe quantum sphere in the presence of the magnetic field, including the interaction between the conduction and valence bands, the spin-orbit coupling within the valence bands, the intrinsic spin Zeeman splitting, and the sp-d exchange interaction between the carriers and magnetic ion in the mean-field approximation. The size dependence of the electron and hole energy levels as well as the giant Zeeman splitting energies are studied theoretically. We find that the hole giant Zeeman splitting energies decrease with the increasing radius, smaller than that in the bulk material, and are different for different J(z) states, which are caused by the quantum confinement effect. Because the quantum sphere restrains the excited Landau states and exciton states, in the experiments we can observe directly the Zeeman splitting of basic states. At low magnetic field, the total Zeeman splitting energy increases linearly with the increasing magnetic field and saturates at modest field which is in agreement with recent experimental results. Comparing to the undoped case, the Zeeman splitting energy is 445 times larger which provides us with wide freedom to tailor the electronic structure of DMS nanocrystals for technological applications.

Electronic structures of GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs quantum double

In the framework of effective mass envelope function theory, the electronic structures of GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs quantum double rings(QDRs) are studied. Our model can be used to calculate the electronic structures of quantum wells, wires, dots, and the single ring. In calculations, the effects due to the different effective masses of electrons and holes in GaAs and AlxGa1-xAs and the valence band mixing are considered. The energy levels of electrons and holes are calculated for different shapes of QDRs. The calculated results are useful in designing and fabricating the interrelated photoelectric devices. The single electron states presented here are useful for the study of the electron correlations and the effects of magnetic fields in QDRs.

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 states in InAs quantum spheres and ellipsoids

The eight-band effective-mass Hamiltonian of the free-standing narrow-gap InAs quantum ellipsoids is developed, and the electron and hole electronic structures as well as optical properties are calculated by using the model. The energies, wave functions and transition probabilities of quantum spheres as functions of the radius of quantum sphere R is presented. It is found that the energy levels do not vary as 1/R-2, which is caused by the coupling between the conduction and valence bands, and by the constant terms correspond to the spin-orbit splitting energy. The blueshifts of hole states depend strongly on the coupling from electron states, so that the order of hole states changes as has been predicted in experiment. The exciton binding energies are calculated, the calculated excitonic gaps as functions of the ground exciton transition energy are in good agreement with the photoluminescence measured spectra in details. Finally, the hole energy levels and the linear polarization factors in InAs quantum ellipsoids as functions of the aspect ratio are presented. The state 1S(Z up arrow)((1/2)) becomes the hole ground state when e is larger than 2.4. The saturation value of the linear polarization factors of the InAs long ellipsoids of diameter 2.0 nm is 0.86, in agreement with the experimental results.

Aluminium doping induced enhancement of p-d coupling in ZnO

Valence-band type Auger lines in Al doped and undoped ZnO were comparatively studied with the corresponding core level x-ray photoelectron spectrography (XPS) spectra as references. Then the shift trend of energy levels in the valence band was that p and p-s-d states move upwards but e and p-d states downwards with increasing Al concentration. The decreased energy of the Zn 3d state is larger than the increased energy of the 0 2p state, indicating the lowering of total energy. This may indicate that Al doping could induce the enhancement of p-d coupling in ZnO, which originates from stronger Al-O hybridization. The shifts of these states and the mechanism were confirmed by valence band XPS spectra and 0 K-edge x-ray absorption spectrography (XAS) spectra. Finally, some previously reported phenomena are explained based on the Al doping induced enhancement of p-d coupling.

Magneto-transport characteristics of two-dimensional electron gas for Si delta-doped InAlAs/InGaAs single quantum well

Magneto-transport measurements have been carried out on a Si heavily delta-doped In0.52Al0.48As/In(0.53)G(0.47)As single quantum well in the temperature range between 1.5 and 60 K under magnetic field up to 10 T. We studied the Shubnikov-de Haas(SdH) effect and the Hall effect for the In0.52Al0.48As/In(0.53)G(0.47)As single quantum well occupied by two subbands, and have obtained the electron concentration, mobility, effective mass and energy levels respectively. The electron concentrations of the two subbands derived from mobility spectrum combined with multi-carrier fitting analysis are well consistent with the result from the SdH oscillation. From fast Fourier transform analysis for d(2)rho/dB(2)-1/B, it is observed that there is a frequency of f(1)-f(2) insensitive to the temperature, besides the frequencies f(1), f(2) for the two subbands and the frequency doubling 2f(1), both dependent on the temperature. This is because That the electrons occupying the two different subbands almost have the same effective mass in the quantum well and the magneto-intersubband scattering between the two subbands is strong.

Electronic structure of coupled vertically stacked self-assembled InAs quantum disks in a vertical electric field

In the framework of the effective-mass and adiabatic approximations, by setting the effective-mass of electron in the quantum disks (QDs) different from that in the potential barrier material, we make some improvements in the calculation of the electronic energy levels of vertically stacked self-assembled InAs QD. Comparing with the results when an empirical value was adopted as the effective-mass of electron of the system, we can see that the higher levels become heightened. Furthermore, the Stark shifts of the system of different methods are compared. The Stark shifts of holes are also studied. The vertical electric field changes the splitting between the symmetric level and the antisymmetric one for the same angular momentum. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spin-polarized current produced by a double barrier resonant tunneling diode

The spin-polarized tunneling current through a double barrier resonant tunneling diode (RTD) made with a semimagnetic semiconductor is studied theoretically. The calculated spin-polarized current and polarization degree are in agreement with recent experimental results. It is predicted that the polarization degree can be modulated continuously from + 1 to - 1 by changing the external voltage such that the quasi-confined spin-up and spin-down energy levels shift downwards from the Fermi level to the bottom of the conduction band. The RTD with low potential barrier or the tunneling through the second quasi-confined state produces larger spin-polarized current. Furthermore a higher magnetic field enhances the polarization degree of the tunneling current. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quantum-confined stark effect of vertically stacked self-assembled quantum discs

We study the electronic energy levels and probability distribution of vertically stacked self-assembled InAs quantum discs system in the presence of a vertically applied electric field. This field is found to increase the splitting between the symmetric and antisymmetric levels for the same angular momentum. The field along the direction from one disc to another affects the electronic energy levels similarly as that in the opposite direction because the two discs are identical. It is obvious from our calculation that the probability of finding an electron in one disc becomes larger when the field points from this disc to the other one.

Correlation of structural and optical investigation of InGaAs/InAlAs quantum cascade laser

Double X-ray diffraction has been used to investigate InGaAs/InAlAs quantum cascade (QC) laser grown on InP substrate by molecule beam epitaxy, by means of which, excellent lattice matching, the interface smoothness, the uniformity of the thickness and the composition of the epilayer are disclosed. What is more, these results are in good agreement with designed value. The largest lattice mismatch is within 0.18% and the intersubband absorption wavelength between two quantized energy levels is achieved at about lambda = 5.1 mum at room temperature. At 77 K, the threshold density of the QC laser is less than 2.6 kA/cm(2) when the repetition rate is 5 kHz and the duty cycle is 1%. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Realization of quantum cascade laser operating at room temperature

X-ray diffraction, as an effective probe and simple method, is used to ascertain the precise control of the epilayer thickness and composition. Intersubband absorption from the whole structure of the QC laser is used to monitor the wavelength of the QC laser and the material quality. Path for growth of high-quality InP-based InGaAs/InAlAs quantum cascade laser material is realized. The absorption between two quantized energy levels is achieved at similar to4.7 mum. Room temperature laser action is achieved at lambda approximate to 5.1 - 5.2 mum. For some devices, if the peak output power is kept at 2 mW, quasi-continuous wave operation at room temperature can persist for more than I It. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.