Type I-type II transition of self-assembled In0.55Al0.45As/Al0.5Ga0.5As quantum dots

The photoluminescence (PL) of In0.55Al0.45As/Al0.5Ga0.5As self-assembled quantum dots has been measured at 15 and 80 K under hydrostatic pressure. The lateral size of the dots ranges from 7 to 62 nm. The emissions from the dots with 26, 52 and 62 nm size have a blue shift under pressure, indicating that these quantum dots have the normal type-I structure with lowest conduction band at the Gamma -valley. However, the PL peak of dots with 7 nm diameter moves to lower energy with increasing pressure. It is a typical character for the X-related transition. Then these small dots have a type-II structure with the X-valley as the lowest conduction level. An envelope-function calculation confirms that the Gamma -like exciton transition energy will rise above the X-like transition energy in the In0.55Al0.45As/Al0.5Ga0.5As structure if the dot size is small enough.

Quantum-confined Stark effects of InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dot

Quantum-confined Stark effects in InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots are investigated theoretically in the framework of effective-mass envelope function theory. The electron and hole energy levels and optical transition energies are calculated in the presence of perpendicular and parallel electric field. In our calculation, the effect of finite offset, valence band mixing, and strain are all taken into account. The results show that the perpendicular electric field weakly affects the electron ground state and hole energy levels. The energy levels are affected strongly by the parallel electric field. For the electron, the energy difference between the ground state and the first excited state decreases as electric field increases. The optical transition energies have clear redshifts in electric field. The theoretical results agree well with the available experimental data. Our calculated results are useful for the application of quantum dots to photoelectric devices. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)11001-7].

Pressure behaviour of self-assembled In0.55Al0.45As/Al0.5Ga0.5As quantum dots with multi-modal distribution in size

The pressure behaviour of In0.55Al0.45As/Al0.5Ga0.5As self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) has been studied at 15 K in the pressure range of 0-1.3 GPa. The atomic force microscopy image shows that the QDs have a multi-modal distribution in size. Three emission peaks were observed in the photoluminescence (PL) spectra, corresponding to the different QD families. The measured pressure coefficients are 82, 93 and 98 meV GPa(-1) for QDs with average lateral size of 26, 52 and 62 nm, respectively. The pressure coefficient of small QDs is about 17% smaller than that of bulk In0.55Al0.45As An envelope-function calculation was used to analyse the effect of pressure-induced change of barrier height, effective mass and dot size on the pressure coefficients of QDs. The Gamma-X state mixing was also included in the evaluation of the reduction of the pressure coefficients. The results indicate that both the pressure-induced increase of effective mass and Gamma-X mixing respond to the decrease of pressure coefficients, and the Gamma-X mixing is more important for small dots. The calculated Gamma-X interaction potentials are 15 and 10 meV for QDs with lateral size of 26 and 52 nm, respectively. A type-II alignment for the X conduction band is suggested according to the pressure dependence of the PL intensities. The valence-band offset was then estimated as 0.15 +/- 0.02.

The effects of electric field on the electronic structure of a semiconductor quantum dot

The effect of electric field on the electronic structure of a spherical quantum dot is studied in the framework of the effective-mass envelope-function theory. The dependence of the energy of electron states and hole states on the applied electric field and on the quantum dot size is investigated; the mixing of heavy holes and light holes is taken into account. The selection rule for the optical transition between the conduction band and valence band states is obtained. The exciton binding energies are calculated as functions of the quantum dot radius and the strength of the electric field. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.

Quantum-confined Stark effects of exciton states in V-shaped GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs quantum wires

Quantum-confined Stark effects are investigated theoretically in GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs quantum wires formed in V-grooved structures. The electronic structures of the V-shaped quantum wires are calculated within the effective mass envelope function theory in the presence of electric field. The binding energies of excitons are also studied by two-dimensional Fourier transformation and variational method. The blue Stark shifts are found when the electric field is applied in the growth direction. A possible mechanism in which the blueshifts of photoluminescence peaks are attributed to two factors, one factor comes from the asymmetric structure of quantum wire along the electric field and another factor arises from the electric-field-induced change of the Coulomb interaction. The numerical results are compared with the recent experiment measurement.

Spatially separated excitons in quantum-dot quantum well structures

In the framework of the effective-mass envelope-function theory, the electronic and optical properties of a spherical core-shell quantum-dot quantum well (QDQW) structure with one and two wells have been investigated. The results show that the energies of electron and hole states depend sensitively on the well thickness and core radius of quantum-dot quantum well structure. An interesting spatially separated characteristic of electron and hole in QDQW is found and enhanced significantly in the two-wells case. The normalized oscillator strength for the optical transition between the electron and hole states in QDQW exhibits a deep valley at some special well thickness. The Coulomb interaction between the electron and hole is also taken into account. [S0163-1829(98)02412-6].

Linear and nonlinear intersubband optical properties in a step quantum well with an applied electric field

Within the framework of the effective-mass envelope-function theory, the field-dependent intersubband optical properties of a Al0.4Ga0.6As/Al0.2Ga0.8As/GaAs step quantum well are investigated theoretically based on the periodic boundary condition. A very large Stark shift occurs when the lowest subband electron remains confined to the small well while the higher subband electron confined to the big well. The optical nonlinearity in a step well due to resonant intersubband transition (ISBT) is analyzed using a density-matrix approach. The second-harmonic generation coefficient chi(2 omega)((2)) and nonlinear optical rectification chi(0)((2)) have also been investigated theoretically. The results show that the ISBT in a step well can generate very large second order optical nonlinearities, chi(0)((2)) and chi(2 omega)((2)) can be tuned by the electric field over a wide range.

EFFECTIVE-MASS THEORY FOR GAAS/GA1-XALXAS QUANTUM WIRES AND CORRUGATED SUPERLATTICES GROWN ON (311)-ORIENTED SUBSTRATES

The electronic structures of GaAs/Ga1-xAlxAs quantum wires (corrugated superlattices) grown on (311)-oriented substrates are studied in the framework of the effective-mass envelope-function method. The electron and hole subband structure and optical transition matrix elements are calculated. When x=1, the results are compared with experiments, and it is found that the direct transition becomes an indirect transition as the widths of well and barrier become smaller.

TUNNELING ESCAPE TIME OF ELECTRONS FROM A QUANTUM-WELL WITH GAMMA-X MIXING EFFECT

By using the envelope function method we calculated the tunneling escape time of electrons from a quantum well. We adopted a simplified interface matrix to describe the GAMMA-X mixing effect, and employed a wave packet method to determine the tunneling escape time. When the GAMMA state in the well was in resonance with the X state in the barrier, the escape time reduced remarkably. However, it was possible that the wave functions in two different channels, i.e., GAMMA-GAMMA-GAMMA and GAMMA-X-GAMMA, could interfere destructively, leading the escape time greater than that of pure GAMMA-GAMMA-GAMMA tunneling.

ELECTRONIC-STRUCTURES OF QUANTUM WIRES FORMED BY LATERAL STRAIN

The electronic structures of quantum wires formed by lateral strain are studied in the framework of the effective-mass envelope-function method. The hole energy levels, wave functions, and optical transition matrix elements are calculated for the real quantum-wire structure, and the results are compared with experiment. It is found that one-dimensional confinement effects exist for both electronic and hole states related to the n (001) = 1 state. The lateral strained confinement causes luminescence-peak redshifts and polarization anisotropy, and the anisotropy is more noticeable than that in the unstrained case. The variation of hole energy levels with well widths in the [110] and [001] directions and wave vector along the [110BAR] direction are also obtained.

Asymmetric stark shifts of exciton in InAs/GaAs pyramidal quantum dots

Within the framework of the single-band effective-mass envelope-function theory, the effect of electric field on the electronic structures of pyramidal quantum dot is investigated. Taking the Coulomb interaction between the heavy holes and electron into account, the quantum confined Stark shift of the exciton as functions of the strength and direction of applied electric field and the size of the quantum dot are obtained. An interesting asymmetry of Stark shifts around the zero field is found. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Effective-mass theory for InAs/GaAs strained superlattices

By using the recently developed exact effective-mass envelope-function theory, the electronic structures of InAs/GaAs strained superlattices grown on GaAs (100) oriented substrates are studied. The electron and hole subband structures, distribution of electrons and holes along the growth direction, optical transition matrix elements, exciton states, and absorption spectra are calculated. In our calculations, the effects due to the different effective masses of electrons and holes in different materials and the strain are included. Our theoretical results are in agreement with the available experimental data.

Intraband optical absorption in semiconductor coupled quantum dots

In the framework of effective mass envelope function theory, absorption coefficients are calculated for intraband (intersubband in the conduction band) optical transition in InAs/GaAs coupled quantum dots. In our calculation the microscpic distributon of the strain is taken into account. The absorption in coupled quantum dots is quite different from that of superlattices. In superlattices, the absorption does not exist when the electric vector of light is parallel to the superlattice plane (perpendicular incident). This introduces somewhat of a difficulty in fabricating the infrared detector. In quantum dots, the absorption exists when light incident along any direction, which may be good for fabricating infrared detectors.

Effective-mass theory for InAs/GaAs strained coupled quantum dots

In the framework of effective-mass envelope-function theory, the optical transitions of InAs/GaAs strained coupled quantum dots grown on GaAs (100) oriented substrates are studied. At the Gamma point, the electron and hole energy levels, the distribution of electron and hole wave functions along the growth and parallel directions, the optical transition-matrix elements, the exciton states, and absorption spectra are calculated. In calculations, the effects due to the different effective masses of electrons and holes in different materials are included. Our theoretical results are in good agreement with the available experimental data.

Linear-Polarization Optical Property of CdSe Quantum Rods

The linear-polarization optical property of CdSe quantum rods is studied in the framework of effective-mass envelope function theory.The effects of shape and magnetic field on the linear polarization factors are investigated.It is found that CdSe quantum spheres have negative polarization factors (xy-polarized emission)and quantum long rods with small radius have positive linear polarization factors (z-polarized emission).The z-direction is the direction of the c axis.Quantum long rods with large radius have negative linear polarization factors,due to the hexagonal crystal symmetry and the crystal field splitting energy.The linear polarization factors decrease and may change from a positive value to a negative value;i.e.,the z-polarized emissions decrease relative to xy-polarized emissions as the magnetic field applied along the z direction increases.