Parametrized Equations for Excitons in Quantum Wires
A set of analytic equations for calculating the binding energies of excitons in T-shaped and squared quantum well wires are established within the effective mass approximation and the two-band model. The resolution is performed in the framework of the variational method. The projections of the relat...
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Інститут фізики напівпровідників імені В.Є. Лашкарьова НАН України
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irk-123456789-1206562017-06-13T03:06:37Z Parametrized Equations for Excitons in Quantum Wires El Haddad, A. Diouri, J. Taqi, A. A set of analytic equations for calculating the binding energies of excitons in T-shaped and squared quantum well wires are established within the effective mass approximation and the two-band model. The resolution is performed in the framework of the variational method. The projections of the relative movement in a lateral plane (2D exciton) and along the free movement direction (1D exciton) are examined as limiting cases. Binding energies and spatial extensions of the exciton as functions of the size of the wire for both the ground and the first excited states are calculated in the case of GaAs/GaAlAs heterostructures for T-shaped and squared geometries. The method is applied to calculate the effects on the excitons induced by the application of crossed electric and magnetic fields. Comparison between quantum wells, T-wires and squared wires is given. 2005 Article Parametrized Equations for Excitons in Quantum Wires / A. El Haddad, J. Diouri, A. Taqi // Semiconductor Physics Quantum Electronics & Optoelectronics. — 2005. — Т. 8, № 1. — С. 12-21. — Бібліогр.: 39 назв. — англ. 1560-8034 PACS: 73.21.Hb http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/120656 en Semiconductor Physics Quantum Electronics & Optoelectronics Інститут фізики напівпровідників імені В.Є. Лашкарьова НАН України |
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A set of analytic equations for calculating the binding energies of excitons in T-shaped and squared quantum well wires are established within the effective mass approximation and the two-band model. The resolution is performed in the framework of the variational method. The projections of the relative movement in a lateral plane (2D exciton) and along the free movement direction (1D exciton) are examined as limiting cases. Binding energies and spatial extensions of the exciton as functions of the size of the wire for both the ground and the first excited states are calculated in the case of GaAs/GaAlAs heterostructures for T-shaped and squared geometries. The method is applied to calculate the effects on the excitons induced by the application of crossed electric and magnetic fields. Comparison between quantum wells, T-wires and squared wires is given. |
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El Haddad, A. Diouri, J. Taqi, A. |
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El Haddad, A. Diouri, J. Taqi, A. Parametrized Equations for Excitons in Quantum Wires Semiconductor Physics Quantum Electronics & Optoelectronics |
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El Haddad, A. Diouri, J. Taqi, A. |
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Parametrized Equations for Excitons in Quantum Wires |
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Parametrized Equations for Excitons in Quantum Wires |
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Parametrized Equations for Excitons in Quantum Wires |
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Parametrized Equations for Excitons in Quantum Wires |
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Parametrized Equations for Excitons in Quantum Wires |
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parametrized equations for excitons in quantum wires |
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Інститут фізики напівпровідників імені В.Є. Лашкарьова НАН України |
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2005 |
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Parametrized Equations for Excitons in Quantum Wires / A. El Haddad, J. Diouri, A. Taqi // Semiconductor Physics Quantum Electronics & Optoelectronics. — 2005. — Т. 8, № 1. — С. 12-21. — Бібліогр.: 39 назв. — англ. |
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Semiconductor Physics Quantum Electronics & Optoelectronics |
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AT elhaddada parametrizedequationsforexcitonsinquantumwires AT diourij parametrizedequationsforexcitonsinquantumwires AT taqia parametrizedequationsforexcitonsinquantumwires |
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2025-07-08T18:17:30Z |
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1837103737793937408 |
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Semiconductor Physics, Quantum Electronics & Optoelectronics. 2005. V. 8, N 2. P. 12-21.
© 2005, V. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
12
PACS: 73.21.Hb
Parametrized equations for excitons in quantum wires
A. El Haddad, J. Diouri and A. Taqi
Faculté des sciences , BP 2121, Tétouan, Morocco,
E-mail: a_haddad01@yahoo.fr
Abstract. A set of analytic equations for calculating the binding energies of excitons in
T-shaped and squared quantum well wires are established within the effective mass
approximation and the two-band model. The resolution is performed in the framework of
the variational method. The projections of the relative movement in a lateral plane (2D
exciton) and along the free movement direction (1D exciton) are examined as limiting
cases. Binding energies and spatial extensions of the exciton as functions of the size of
the wire for both the ground and the first excited states are calculated in the case of
GaAs/GaAlAs heterostructures for T-shaped and squared geometries. The method is
applied to calculate the effects on the excitons induced by the application of crossed
electric and magnetic fields. Comparison between quantum wells, T-wires and squared
wires is given.
Keywords: exciton, quantum well wires, heterostructures, binding energy.
Manuscript received 17.03.05; accepted for publication 18.05.05.
1. Introduction
Nowadays, the art of growing nanometre-sized quantum
well wires (QWRs) with various cross sectional shapes
is sufficiently advanced giving rise to new optical
performances not achievable in 2D systems (for reviews,
see [1-3] and references therein). The literature abounds
on studying optical and electrical properties of a wide
variety of such structures involving II-VI (CdMnS,
CdMnSe) and III-V (GaAlAs, GaInAs / InP) compounds
[3–5]. Over the past ten years, self-organized growth and
cleaved edge overgrowth techniques have been
developed to fabricate high-quality samples (V-groove
and T-shaped wires) with enhanced interface uniformity
[4-5]. It has been proved that for such structures, the
confinement of the carriers in the edge region (at 10 nm-
scale regime) acts as a quasi-1D confinement enhancing
then the binding energy of the excitons as well as the
fundamental absorption intensity. A large number of
theoretical and experimental works have been devoted to
study excitonic effects in cylindrical, V-groove and T-
shaped wires [6-23]. In general, binding energies of
excitons bE in such systems were calculated using
various theoretical approaches and numerical techniques.
In [13], a first calculation of bE for GaAs rectangular
quantum wire (RQWR) surrounded by an infinite
confining potential and including phonon effects was
performed with the use of variational solution to the
effective mass approximation. Excitons in cylindrical
quantum wires (CQWR) with infinite [24] and finite [11]
barrier were studied and binding energies were
calculated analytically for the first case and variationally
for the second. In [25], a numerical solution of the Bloch
equations describing the multisubband “1D” system was
used to analyze optical properties of T- and V-like wires
based on GaAlAs / GaAs structures. As a whole, it has
been found that bE , as a function of the cross-section
dimensions, follows trends similar to those habitually
observed for 2D quantum wells but with top values
larger than the ideal 2D limit. In general, the theoretical
treatment of excitons in QWRs requires first to solve the
two-dimensional Schrödinger equation for the confined
states of the wire. To do this, except for cylindrical
wires, which are completely solved analytically [24, 11],
various numerical approaches were used to solve
equations governing the eigenstates of electrons and
holes mainly for realistic structures, i.e., T- and V-wires.
Today, the tendency in investigating quantum wires is in
general limited to the so-called realistic systems, i.e., T-
and V-wires after some extensive studies of CQWRs.
However, RQWRs are susceptible to give interesting
features for both basic physics and applications.
Effectively, in RQWRs, the confinement is expected to
be stronger and, as a consequence, the excitons more
enclosed: further localization and higher binding
energies. This would yield more intensive and more
squeezed excitonic spectra susceptible with new
interesting applications. In addition, it was mentioned
that these systems allow, when growing, enough
precision in controlling shape and size even in the
nanoscale region [26]. Furthermore, the theoretical
Semiconductor Physics, Quantum Electronics & Optoelectronics. 2005. V. 8, N 2. P. 12-21.
© 2005, V. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
13
treatment of such structures enables, in a relatively
simpler way, the derivation of quasi-analytical equations
for excitonic states provided that electron and hole states
are known. Actually, whereas the exciton properties for
T- and V-like geometries are widely studied and
compared each to other revealing no significant
difference [25], it is still unclear whether the shape of
cross-section influences the exciton properties when they
are compared to the square-like geometry. Examination
of the available data makes the response to this question
difficult because of the wide variety of the physical
parameters used, for the same material, in calculating
and interpreting these properties.
The aim of the present paper is to elucidate some
aspects of these questions by focusing on the exciton
properties in squared cross-section quantum wires
(SQWRs). The corpus of the paper is a generalization of
the method we have developed for quantum wells (QWs)
with rectangular and parabolic confinements [27]. In
contrast with QWs, the main difficulty for the analytic
study of RQWRs arises from the coupling between x and
y movements introduced by the discontinuity of the
confining potential along (x–y)-directions making the
factorization (with respect to x and y coordinates) of the
single particle function not relevant. A few methods
have been suggested to solve electron and hole states for
RQWR with finite potential barrier [9 and references
therein]. Recently, M. Tsetseri et al. [28] have used the
finite difference method to calculate the ground state of
V and rectangular quantum wires. They found that the
energy is strongly affected by the shape of the wire and
showed that V- and T-wires may be approximated by
rectangular wires with suitable sides ratio. In the
particular case of SQWRs which approximate the
symmetric T-wires, factorized wavefunctions with
required boundary conditions at the interfaces may be
used as solutions for the ground state.
In order to find practical and relatively simplified
equations for excitons in QWRs, we develop a method
where advanced analytical steps are carried out. The
method is performed in the framework of the envelope
function formalism based on the effective mass
approximation and two-band model including valence
band anisotropy. The solution is found on the basis of
the variational principle. One power of the method is
that it can be applied to any potential profile, provided
that the solution of the one particle problem is known.
We have also extended the method to study the effects of
applied electric and magnetic fields on excitons. The
paper is organized as follows: in the following section
we formulate the assumptions and the equations of the
model. The expressions for the spatial extension and the
binding energy of the exciton are then established. The
2D and 1D limiting cases, as projections of the relative
movement in the lateral plane and along the free-
movement direction, respectively, are deduced as a test
of the validity of the model. Applications of the model to
T-shaped and squared quantum wires with and without
the presence of electric and magnetic fields are given
and discussed in Section 3.
2. The model
2.1. Basic equations
Let us consider a QWR, of type I extending infinitely
along the z-direction with xL and yL transversal
dimensions. The confining potential is of arbitrary
shape, say Ve(xe, ye) for electrons and Vh(xh, yh) for holes.
In the hypothesis of uncoupled excitons and within the
envelope function approximation, the Hamiltonian
operator for the bound states of one exciton X reads, in
the effective mass approximation:
H = He + Hh + HX (1)
where
( )iii
iiiiii
i yxV
ymyxmx
H ,11
+⎟⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜⎜
⎝
⎛
∂
∂
∂
∂
−⎟⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜⎜
⎝
⎛
∂
∂
∂
∂
−= (2)
and
rZ
H X
21
2
2
−
∂
∂
−=
σ
. (3)
Here Hi describes the (x, y)-movement of the carrier i
(i = e, h) in the presence of the confining potential
Vi(xi, yi) with the ground state energy Ei. In equation (3),
Z is the relative position between the electron and the
hole along z-axis: Z = ze – zh, r is their relative distance,
µz is the reduced mass along the z-axis and *μ
μ
σ z=
where µ* is the reduced electron-hole mass ratio defined
by:
***
111
he mm
+=
μ
, *
,hem being the effective mass of the
electron (e) or the hole (h). In this formulation, effective
atomic units are used, i.e.,
2*
2
e
aB
μ
εh
= for distance,
22
4*
2 ε
μ
h
eR = for energy and *μ for masses. ε represents
the dielectric constant which is set to be equal inside and
outside the well, neglecting then the dielectric mismatch
effect which is minor in comparison to the confinement
effect mainly in the strong confinement regime [25]. The
exciton problem is then solved variationally: the
energies E and the wavefunctions ( )he rr rr ,Ψ of the
exciton are determined by minimizing the expected
values of H with respect to a suitable set of variational
parameters and the binding energies Eb are deduced from
the relation:
Eb = Ee + Eh – E. (4)
Owing to the hydrogen-like coupling between the
electron and the hole, the most appropriate trial
wavefunction may be set as follows:
( ) ( )ΦΨΨ=Ψ hhheee yxyx ,, , (5)
where the coupling factor Φ is chosen conveniently to
describe the exciton state, and eψ and hψ are obtained
Semiconductor Physics, Quantum Electronics & Optoelectronics. 2005. V. 8, N 2. P. 12-21.
© 2005, V. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
14
by solving the Hamiltonian (2) for the electron and the
hole respectively. Thus, for the ground state X1s, we take:
⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜
⎝
⎛−=Φ
λ
'exp1
r
s (6)
and for the first excited state
⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜
⎝
⎛−⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜
⎝
⎛ −=Φ
λλ
'exp'12
rr
s
(7)
where 2222' ZYXr ξ++= , X and Y being the relative
positions in the (x-y) plane: X = xe – xh and Y = ye – yh. λ
and ξ are the variational parameters.
2.2. General solutions
In order to preserve the generality of the problem, we
will derive the parameterized formula in terms of the
coupling factor Φ and its derivatives. Substituting (5)
into the Schrödinger equation described by the
Hamiltonian (1) and taking into account of (4), we
obtain:
ΩΨΨ×⎥
⎦
⎤
Φ−
−⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜
⎝
⎛
∂
Φ∂
+⎟
⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜
⎜
⎝
⎛
⎟⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜⎜
⎝
⎛
∂
Φ∂
+⎟⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜⎜
⎝
⎛
∂
Φ∂
+
⎢
⎢
⎣
⎡
+⎟
⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜
⎜
⎝
⎛
⎟⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜⎜
⎝
⎛
∂
Φ∂
+⎟⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜⎜
⎝
⎛
∂
Φ∂
−=ΨΨ ∫
d
r
Zyxm
yxm
E
he
hhh
eee
b
222
222
22
2
11
1
σ
(8)
with dZdydydxdxd hehe=Ω .
Since the effective mass mismatch effect in
calculating the binding energy of the exciton is very
small as mentioned in the previous work [27], the
integration operations in equation (8) may be performed
over all the structure by making constant the effective
mass, equalled to its value in the well. The calculation
reduces then to some analytic manipulations involving
the coupling factor Φ . For details of the procedure see
reference [27]. In the present case, the parameterized
binding energy writes:
)(
)()(2
F
JKEb ℑ
ℑ−ℑ
= , (9)
where the operator ℑ is defined by
( ) ( ) ( ) dYdXYXAYXPA ,,
0 0
∫ ∫
∞ ∞
=ℑ . (10)
P(X, Y) being the probability of finding the electron and
the hole separated by X and Y which writes:
.),(),(
),(),(),(
22
22
dxdyyxYyXx
dxdyyxYyXxYXP
eh
he
ψψ
ψψ
∫
∫
+++
+++=
(11)
In these equations, the entities F, J, K, and G are given
by:
( ) ∫Φ= dZYXF 2, ;
dZ
Zyx
YXJ
ee
∫ ⎟
⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜
⎜
⎝
⎛
⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜
⎝
⎛
∂
Φ∂
+⎟⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜⎜
⎝
⎛
∂
Φ∂
+⎟⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜⎜
⎝
⎛
∂
Φ∂
=
222
1),(
σ
;
( ) ∫
Φ
= dZ
r
YXK
2
, ; ( ) ∫Φ= dZZYXG 22, . (12)
In the same way, the spatial extensions of the exciton
along the axes express simply as follows:
)(
)( 2
22
F
FXXX ex ℑ
ℑ
==
ψ
;
)(
)( 2
22
F
FYYYex ℑ
ℑ
==
ψ
;
)(
)(22
F
GZZex ℑ
ℑ
==
ψ
. (13)
It results from these equations that the crucial step for
solving the exciton states is to know the representative
function ),( YXP , denoted hereafter by the P-function,
which is in turn function of the one-particle wave-
functions. Thus, the proceeding in what follows consists
in determining first the one-particle states and then the
P-function from which the parameterized equations of
the binding energies and extensions of the exciton are
deduced via equations (9) and (13). Before turning to the
applications of the method, let’s note that the
parameterized expression of the energy, equation (9), is
in fact the sum of the rinetic part of the energy, i.e.,
)(
)(),(
F
JT
ℑ
ℑ
=ξλ and the attractive Coulomb part, i.e.,
)(
)(2),(
F
KU
ℑ
ℑ
−=ξλ which makes it easy, after minimi-
zation the total energy functional, to deduce the kinetic
and the electric potential energies in terms of the entities
)(),( JF ℑℑ and )(Kℑ .
To make easy the use of our results for desirable
cases, we have preserved the generality by using
dimensionless units, i.e., 1== BaR where R and Ba
are the Rydberg energy and the Bohr radius, respec-
tively, of bulk exciton for well material.
2.3. Limiting cases
Before giving the variations of the exciton properties for
various shapes and sizes of the wire, it is interesting to
examine how the equations established above transform
within the limiting cases of three, two and one
dimensional structures. Indeed, the asymptotic behaviour
of the exciton with these limits is independent of the
cross-sectional shape, and it may be used as a test of the
validity of the model. The former case corresponds to
the situation where the exciton is quasi-free, as in the
bulk material; for the second case both electron and hole
are assumed to be confined in a same plane, while in the
latter case the confinement is supposed to be exactly of
the one-dimensional one.
Semiconductor Physics, Quantum Electronics & Optoelectronics. 2005. V. 8, N 2. P. 12-21.
© 2005, V. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
15
a) 3D-exciton. Approaching the bulk-well material limit
( ∞→xL and ∞→yL ), the confinement functions eψ
and hψ become smooth, i.e. 0, ≈∂ YX and taking into
account the spherical symmetry (ξ≈1), we obtain:
2
1
3
12
)(
)(
λσ
σ +
=
ℑ
ℑ
F
J ;
λ
1
)(
)(
=
ℑ
ℑ
F
K ; 2
)(
)( λ=
ℑ
ℑ
F
G . (14)
Substituting these expressions into equation (9) and
making 1=σ , as required for isotropic masses, we obtain:
( )
λλ
λ 21
2
3
1, +−=D
sbE . Maximizing then with respect to the
variational parameter λ yields: 13
1, =D
sbE with
corresponding the Bohr radius 13
1
3
1 == D
s
D
sa λ and
22 =−= UT as expected. The corresponding extensions
are: 13
1
3
1
3
1
3
1 ==== D
s
D
s
D
s
D
s aXYZ . Let’s note that this
case corresponds also to the limiting situation of
infinitely narrow wire ( )0,0 →→ yx LL where the
exciton takes the bulk-barrier character: the carrier wave
function spreads and penetrates into the barriers making
the binding energy decrease towards the value
appropriate to the bulk barrier material (which is
supposed here to be equal to that of the bulk well
material because of the approximation made of equalling
masses and dielectric constants)
Similarly, for the 2s-exciton, we obtain, with 3D-
limiting case:
2
1
3
12
)(
)(
λσ
σ +
=
ℑ
ℑ
F
J ;
λ2
1
)(
)(
=
ℑ
ℑ
F
K ;
2
2
7
)(
)( λ=
ℑ
ℑ
F
G , which yields, after maximizing:
4
1
21
3
4
13
2, =⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜
⎝
⎛
+
=
σ
σD
sbE ; with 2
3
2123
2 =⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜
⎝
⎛ +
=
σ
σD
sa
and
2
12 =−= UT , 14
2
7 3
2
3
2
3
2
3
2 ==== D
s
D
s
D
s
D
s YXZ λ .
b) 2D-exciton. This case corresponds formally to the
state for which the binding energy reaches its top limit
value: both the electron and hole are assumed to be
confined in the same plane (X = 0, ∞→yL ). It may be
considered as the projection of the relative movement of
the exciton in the (y, z)-plane. The coupling factor Φ is
thus given by: ⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜
⎝
⎛−=Φ
λ
ρexp1s
where ρ is the polar
radius in the (y, z)-plane. Then, we obtain, for isotropic
masses ( 1=σ ):
2
1
)(
)(
λ
=
ℑ
ℑ
F
J ;
λ
2
)(
)(
=
ℑ
ℑ
F
K and
λλ
λ 41)( 2
2
1, +−=D
sbE . Maximizing then with respect to
λ gives: 42
1, =D
sbE ,
2
12
1 =D
sa , as expected, with
82 =−= UT and:
4
3
2
3 2
1
2
1
2
1 === D
s
D
s
D
s aYZ and
consequently: B
D
s ar
8
32
1 = , in agreement with the
expression given by G.W. Bryant et al. [29].
For the 2s exciton, within the 2D-limiting case, similar
calculation gives:
2
1
)(
)(
λ
=
ℑ
ℑ
F
J ;
λ3
2
)(
)(
=
ℑ
ℑ
F
K , =D
sbE2
2,
2
1
3
4
λλ
−= and then
9
42
2, =D
sbE with
2
32
2 =D
sa and
9
82 =−= UT ;
4
3
2
2
22
2
2
2 ===
D
sD
s
D
s
aYZ . Note that the
coupling factor in this case is given by the first excited
state of the 2D-hydrogen atom, i.e., λ
ρ
ρ
φ
−
−= eD
s )21(2
2 .
c) 1D-exciton. This second formal case corresponds to
the theoretical complete confinement along the two
directions; the two particles being free only along the z-
axis. It is in fact the projection of the relative movement
along this axis. Thus, it can be assimilated to the
problem of a one-dimensional hydrogen atom. In this
case, the admissible coupling factor may be approached
by [30]: )/exp(1
1 λφ xxD
s −= for the 1s exciton and
)/exp()/( 21
2 λλφ xxxD
s −−= for the 2s exciton. Which
gives, for the former case RE D
sb =1
1, ; B
D
s a=1
1λ ; =D
sX 1
1
Ba3= and for the second, ERE D
sb 4
1
2, = ; B
D
s a21
2 =λ .
As it can be seen, this result, obtained in elementary
way, agrees with that obtained by M. Combescot et al.
[31] in the framework of a complete theoretical study.
3. Applications
We have applied the method described above to study
excitons in realistic T-wires and SQWRs based on
Ga1-xAlxAs/GaAs structures. As it arises from equations
(9)–(13), the key of the problem consists in finding the
characteristic P-function which depends exclusively on
electron and hole states of the structure. For the hole’s
ground state, we have considered only the heavy hole
neglecting then the valence band mixing [32, 33]. The
correspondent mass components were calculated in
terms of the Luttinger band parameters [7], i.e.
21
0
γγ +
=
mmxy
hh and
21
0
2γγ −
=
mmz
hh . The physical
parameters used for numerical applications are listed in
Table 1.
Table 1. Physical parameters used for the calculations of
binding energies and spatial extensions of the excitons.
Symbol Parameter Unit Ga1-xAlxAs
Eg
ΔEc /ΔEv
me
energy gap
band offsets
electron mass
Luttinger
parameters
eV
m0
1.519 + 1.138x + 0.47x3
67/33
1/(14.9–8.2x)
7.1–3.34x
2.02–1.12x
⎭
⎬
⎫
2
1
γ
γ
Semiconductor Physics, Quantum Electronics & Optoelectronics. 2005. V. 8, N 2. P. 12-21.
© 2005, V. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
16
3.1. SQWRs
In this case, the potential (for both electron and hole) is
supposed to be zero in the well and constant in the
barrier say:
( )
0,
0 / 2; / 2
,
otherwise
i i
i i i
i
for x L y L
V x y
V
⎧ < <⎪= ⎨
⎪⎩
(15)
where L is the side width of the wire. To show the
suppleness of the method, we first consider the case of
infinite confining potential (V0,i = ∞). The one particle
ground state is then fully described by the wave
function:
( ) ⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜
⎝
⎛
⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜
⎝
⎛= iiiii y
L
x
L
yx ππψ coscos, . (16)
It follows that the P-function takes the form:
)()(),( YPXPYXP yx= with:
( ) ( ) 21 1 cos
4 2
3 cos sin
4
x
XP X L X
L
L X X
L L
π
π π
π
⎛ ⎞⎛ ⎞= − + +⎜ ⎟⎜ ⎟⎝ ⎠⎝ ⎠
⎛ ⎞ ⎛ ⎞+ ⎜ ⎟ ⎜ ⎟
⎝ ⎠ ⎝ ⎠
(17)
and similar expression for Py(Y), what reduces
considerably the numerical calculation steps.
For a finite barrier height V0,i, variable-separable
functions
( ) ( ) ( )iiiiiii ygxfyx =,ψ (18)
were used as a solution of the one particle problem with
⎩
⎨
⎧
<−−
<
=
2/||for))2/|(|exp()2/cos(
2/||for)cos(
)(
,,
,
LxLxkLk
Lxxk
xf
iiixix
iiix
ii
(19)
and similar equation for gi(yi). The parameters
( ) 2/,0,,, iiibiiyix EVmKKK −=== and == iyix kk ,,
2/, iiwi Emk == were determined by requiring
continuity of ψ and its derivatives m/'ψ at interfaces
which leads to the energy equation
ib
i
i
iw
i
m
KLk
m
k
,, 2
tg =⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜
⎝
⎛ . (20)
For L = 5.5 nm, we find meV 108=eE for the
fundamental state. This value is in very good agreement
with that obtained by M. Tsetseri et al. [28] where the
finite difference method is used. The analytical
expressions for electron and hole states given by
equation (19) were thus used for determining the P-func-
tion of the exciton. In this case too, that function
separates as a product of two symmetric components
Px(X) and Py(Y) but not takes a simple analytical form.
So it was calculated numerically. In Fig. 1, we report the
binding energy (a), the extensions exZ (b) and exρ (c) of
the heavy hole exciton (X1s) as a function of the width of
the wire for different values of x-Al concentration. As it
is seen, for each value of x, the binding energy increases
with decreasing L, reaches a maximum value and
decreases monotonically. All the curves extrapolate to
the exact value of the bulk material at vanishing and
infinite L (barrier material for 0→L and well material
for ∞→L ). The peak in energy occurs for L ranging
between 0.2 and 0.3. It corresponds to the case for which
the probability of finding the electron and the hole
outside the well is negligible. Concerning the extensions,
Fig. 1b,c highlights clearly the effect of the confinement:
the exciton is compressed in both transversal and
longitudinal directions, and compresses as well as the
barrier rises. Here also, Zex and exρ approach the bulk
material values for large well widths, decrease with
lowering L with a pronounced minimum located at
around the value maximizing the binding
Fig. 1. L-dependence of the binding energy (a), z-extension (b)
and the in-plane extension (c) of the X1s exciton for the SQWR
based on AlxGa1-xAs/GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs structure for x = 0.15,
0.30, 0.40 and infinite barrier (from down to up for the energy,
inversely for the extensions).
Semiconductor Physics, Quantum Electronics & Optoelectronics. 2005. V. 8, N 2. P. 12-21.
© 2005, V. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
17
Fig. 3. Lx-dependence of the binding energy (a), z-extension (b)
and the in-plane extension (c) for Ly = 0.5 (solid), Ly = 1 (dashed)
and Ly=2 (dotted) of the X1s exciton in rectangular-parabolic
confining potential for Al0.4Ga0.6As/GaAs/ Al0.4Ga0.6As squared
cross-section wire.
energy, and increase again approaching the bulk shape
for infinitely narrow QWW. This behaviour is similar to
that obtained for the exciton in a rectangular quantum
well reported recently in reference [27]. For the infinite
barrier, both Zex and exρ decrease monotonically with
decreasing L. Characteristics of the excited state of the
exciton X2s for the same structure are shown in Fig. 2 for
a finite barrier (x = 0.4). They present the same
behaviour than the 1s exciton with a maximum of 4.60
reached at about L = 0.3.
We have also examined the theoretical case where
the confining potential is parabolic along the x-direction
and rectangular along the y-direction, say
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎨
⎧
<∞
<>
<<
=
2/||for
2/||and2/||for
2/||and2/||for4
),( ,0
2
2
,0
yi
yixii
yixi
x
i
i
iii
Ly
LyLxV
LyLx
L
xV
yxV
(21)
Then, the one particle wavefunction can be taken as:
( ) ⎟
⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜
⎜
⎝
⎛
⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜
⎝
⎛−= i
y
iiiii y
L
xyx παψ cos
2
1exp, 2 (22)
with
x
ii
i L
mV ,02=α .
It is easy to show that in these conditions the function
Px(X) may be calculated analytically and takes the
following form:
( ) ⎟⎟
⎠
⎞
⎜⎜
⎝
⎛
+
−
+
= 2exp2 XXP
he
he
he
x αα
αα
αα
π (23)
whereas Py(Y) is given by equation (17) with the relevant
coordinates.
In Fig. 3a we report the 1s exciton binding energy in
GaAs-Al0.4Ga0.6As quantum wire, within the latter
confining potential configuration, as a function of
Lx-wire width for different values of Ly. Fig. 3b, c shows
the z-extension and the in-plane extension of the exciton
for the same structure. We note that this confining
potential geometry enhances the binding energy and
enforces the localization of the exciton comparable to
the previous studied geometry.
Fig. 2. L-dependence of the binding energy (a), z-extension and
the in-plane extension (b) of the X2s exciton for the SQWR based
on Al0.4Ga0.6As/GaAs/Al0.4Ga0.6As structure.
Semiconductor Physics, Quantum Electronics & Optoelectronics. 2005. V. 8, N 2. P. 12-21.
© 2005, V. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
18
3.2. T-Wires
For the T-shaped wire, it is not easy to get the one
particle function in a simple and analytic form likely to
facilitate the calculation of the P-function. Nevertheless,
we have found that a judicious transformation of the
coordinates reduces the problem to that of two separate
quantum wells. Successful and precise results were
obtained for the first three electronic levels of T-wires
with various dimensions of the wire. Details of these
calculations will be published soon. The P-function, and
then binding energies Eb of excitons for T-wires, were
thus deduced easily in the same way as for the case of
SQWR. We initially tested the method by confronting
our results with those reported in the literature for the
case of AlAs/GaAs T-wires. Referring to the structure
studied in [34] for which the same physical parameters
were ued, we have calculated Eb of X1s excitons for
L = 5.3 nm, as stem width, and d ranging between 4.5
and 6 nm, as arm width. Our calculated values were
ranged between 22.41 and 19.61 meV, slightly lower
than those roughly estimated in that reference according
to photoluminescence spectra analysis. In turn, our
values are clearly higher than those obtained by
G. Goldoni et al. [25] where the calculation is based on
multisubband semiconductor Bloch equations. Let’s
note, in passing that, contrary to the remark advanced by
the authors in that reference, the virial theorem holds
also for Coulomb-interacting particles even in the pre-
sence of the confining potential provided that the genera-
lized form of the theorem is used (the virial “coefficient”
is then not constant and depends on the form of the
potential). Fig. 4a shows the dependence of Eb on the
size of the wire for balanced T-wires (L = d) based on
Ga0.6Al0.4As structure. Comparison of our results with
those reported in that reference shows very good
agreement. In Fig. 4b, we report the variations of the
extensions of the exciton along the three characteristic
directions versus the dimension of the wire for the same
structure. This result shows that the extension along the
stem direction is more sensitive to the confinement than
extensions along the remaining axis while the stretching
of the exciton is more marked along the arm direction.
The above findings show that the influence of the
cross-section geometry of the wire is not minor. They
indicate that the square-like geometry may be
advantageous for obtaining higher binding energies and
more localized excitons in comparison with T-like
geometry: enhancement rate of the binding energy may
exceed 25% and stretching of the spatial extensions
along the three directions are more pronounced. In
Table 3, we have assembled, for comparison, some
characteristics of the excitons in the two geometries: T-
shaped and squared cross-section wires.
3.3. Action of electric and magnetic fields
As an original application of the method, we have
examined the effects of a magnetic field, applied parallel
Table 2. Values of the binding energy Eb, the Bohr radius a,
and the extensions X, Y, Z of 1s (2s) excitons for the limiting
cases of 3D, 2D and 1D structures. The values are in the
Rydberg energy and the Bohr radius of the bulk GaAs
material (see Table 1).
)( 21 s
b
s
b EE )( 21 ss aa )( 21 ss XX )( 21 ss YY )( 21 ss ZZ
3D 1 (
4
1 ) 1 (2) 1 ( 14 ) 1 ( 14 ) 1 ( 14 )
2D 4 (
9
4 )
2
1 (
2
3 ) –
4
3 (
2
3 )
4
3 (
2
3 )
1D 1 (
4
1 ) 1 (2) – – 3 ( 42 )
Fig. 4. L-dependence of the binding energy (a), z-extension, x-
extension and y-extension (b) of the X1s exciton for the TQWR
based on Al0.4Ga0.6As/GaAs/Al0.4Ga0.6As structure. Inset the
schematic diagram of the studied wire.
Table 3. Comparison of the exciton properties for SQWR
and TQWR for Ga0.6Al0.4As structure. Between brackets
indicated are the values of the well width associated with
the extrema of the energy and X, Y, Z. The values are in the
Rydberg energy and the Bohr radius of the bulk GaAs
material (see Table 1).
)( max
max LEb
)( minmin LX )( minmin LY )( minmin LZ
TQWR 4.2 (0.21) 0.33 (0.3) 0.13 (0.22) 0.53 (0.22)
SQWR 5.2 (0.22) 0.18 (0.22) 0.18 (0.22) 0.47 (0.22)
Semiconductor Physics, Quantum Electronics & Optoelectronics. 2005. V. 8, N 2. P. 12-21.
© 2005, V. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
19
to the z-axis and an electric field, applied parallel to the
x-axis for SQWR. The effect of a constant electric field
on the optical properties of quantum wells has been early
investigated and it is known as Confinement Quantum
Stark Effect. It results generally in a red shift of the PL
peak positions with increasing electric field strength F
causing then a broadening of the exciton and decrease of
its energy. This effect predominates especially for
sufficiently wide wells where the confinement becomes
weak [35]. These features are generally interpreted as a
competition between the field-induced spatial separation
between electron and hole along the direction of the field
and the barrier-induced confinement. In this section, we
will show how these properties are modified in the case
of SQWRs where an additive confinement along the
second growth-direction is present. The resolution of the
problem is made in the framework of the model
developed in Section 2 by calculating the P-function in
terms of the one-particle wavefunctions where the field
effect is included. On the other hand, it is now
established that when a magnetic field is applied along
the free-movement direction, the exciton in a quantum
well squeezes, and its ground state energy shifts almost
linearly with the field, as a consequence of the Landau
quantization of the carrier states [36]. For T-shaped
wires, analysis of magnetophotoluminescence measu-
rements has concluded to a weak magnetic field-induced
energy shift [37]. It has been demonstrated [38] that this
small field-induced energy shifts is consistent with the
hypothesis of weak T-junction confinement rather than
that of 1D quantum confinement. We give in what
follows the magnetic field-induced energy shifts of the
exciton for SQWR and confront our results with those of
T-wires. The calculation is performed, as in the case of
the electric field effect, by determining the P-function in
terms of the electron and hole states in the presence of
the field. First, we derive the general equations when the
electric and the magnetic fields are applied
simultaneously. It is clear that the for configuration of
the fields considered here, the movement of the free
carriers is not affected by the fields along the z-axis. The
fundamental one-particle wavefunctions can thus be
chosen as x- and y-dependent only. They were calculated
variationally by using the following commonly used trial
functions:
[ ])(exp)1)(,(),( 220
iiiiiiiii yxxyxBF +−+= βαψψ
(24)
where iα and iβ are the variational parameters and 0
iψ
is the known wavefunction of the particle i (i = e,h) in
the absence of the field. The additive term in the
Hamiltonian of the one-particle problem when the fields
are applied may be written as follows:
iii
i
BF
i xyx
m
H ηγ
±+= )(
4
22
2
, (25)
where “+” and “–” signs hold for the electron and the
hole respectively and the dimensionless parameters γ
and η given by:
R
Be
*2μ
γ h
= and
R
FeaB=η . The
calculation was performed for the case of the square-like
wire based on Al0.4Ga0.6As system. The results are
plotted in Fig. 5 for the binding energy and Fig. 6 for the
spatial extensions of the exciton. Effects of electric
(dotted line) and magnetic (dashed line) fields are
reported in comparison with the unperturbed system
(solid line). Following features can be noted:
(i) The influence of the electric field is effective only
when the wire-width values exceed the limit of Ba5.0 .
This limiting value is consistent with that which one can
estimate after the pondering condition between the
electric field and the confinement effects, i.e.,
)0(iEFeL > where )0(iE is the energy of the carrier in
the absence of the field. When this condition is satisfied,
the induced-electric field effect results in decreasing
energy with higher rate than without field in addition of
a broadening of the exciton even in the directions
perpendicular to the field with larger relative expansion
along the direction of the field.
(ii) The magnetic field remains ineffective as long as
the well width values do not exceed the bulk-exciton
Bohr radius Ba . For BaL > , the magnetic field acts as
an additive confinement by enhancing the binding
energy and squeezing the exciton in the transversal plane
as well as along the z-axis. These trends are compatible
with those reported by A. Balandin et al. [39] where the
exciton trial wave function was of the Gaussian type.
It is interesting to compare these results to those
obtained by using the same method, when the exciton is
confined in one direction only, i.e. in one quantum well.
We have made this comparison for Ga0.6Al0.4As
structure. The result was as follows. First, we have noted
that the binding energy, as a function of the well-width,
shows similar trends in the two configurations both
when electric and magnetic fields are applied. More
precisely, the relative decrease in energy (calculated for
200=L Å as illustration) for SQWR when the electric
field ( kV/cm 50=F ) is applied is approximately twice
Fig. 5. L-dependence of the binding energy of the exciton X1s
confined in Al0.4Ga0.6As/GaAs/Al0.4Ga0.6As squared wire in the
presence of the electric field kV/cm 50=F (dotted), the
magnetic field B = 20T (dashed) and without field (solid line).
Semiconductor Physics, Quantum Electronics & Optoelectronics. 2005. V. 8, N 2. P. 12-21.
© 2005, V. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
20
the same decrease calculated for the corresponding QW,
while the relative expansion along the direction of the
field falls of half passing from 100% in the QW to 60%
in the SQWR. It shows that the induced-electric field
effect in SQWRs is roughly twice marked than in
corresponding QWs. On the other hand, the
enhancement of the energy induced by the magnetic
field is much more marked in the QW than in the SQWR
where it can be neglected in the usual confinement
regime. Similar behaviour was reported for T-shaped
wires when compared with the corresponding quantum
wells [38].
4. Conclusions
Using a variational calculation in the effective mass
approximation and the two-band model, we have
established a set of parametrized equations to be used for
calculating exciton properties in quantum wires for any
potential profile. Illustration is given for T-shaped and
SQWRs based on GaAlAs/GaAs structures. Comparison
of the two systems shows that the confinement effects
are slightly enforced for the squared geometry: the
binding energies are higher and the spatial extensions
more reduced except for the stem direction where the
extension is lower in T-wire than in the corresponding
squared wire. A new theoretical configuration where the
confining potential is parabolic along the x-direction and
rectangular with infinite height barrier along the y-di-
rection was also considered. The study reveals that this
confining potential configuration enhances the binding
energy and enforces the localisation of the exciton with
respect to the corresponding squared wire. The method
was extended to study the effects of both electric and
magnetic fields on the excitons in the SQWRs studied
structures. It has been found that the induced-electric
field effect results in decreasing energy with higher rate
than without field in addition of a broadening of the
exciton even in the directions perpendicular to the field
with larger relative expansion along the direction of the
field. It has been found also that the magnetic field acts
as an additive confinement by enhancing the binding
energy and squeezing the exciton in the transversal plane
as well as along the z-axis. Comparison of these results
with those obtained for corresponding T-wires or
quantum wires shows that the induced-electric field
effect in SQWRs is roughly twice marked than in
corresponding QWs while the enhancement of the
energy induced by the magnetic field is much more
marked in the QW than in the corresponding SQWR as
well as in the corresponding T-wires.
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