A. V. Platonov

Resonance optical spectroscopy of long-period quantum-well structures

Theory of specular light reflection from long-period quantum-well structures taking into account the exciton contribution to dielectric polarization has been developed for an arbitrary relation between the background refractive index in the well, na, and barrier-material refractive index nb. General expressions for the optical reflection and transmission coefficients for a structure with N equidistant quantum wells are derived with the use of the Green’s function and transfer matrix methods. Normal and oblique light reflectance spectra from II-VI-based heterostructures were found to reveal a bright interference pattern caused by the difference between na and nb. A comparison of the theory with experiment has yielded the dispersion of na and nb within a broad wavelength range and the parameters of the quasi-two-dimensional heavyhole exciton (e1-hh1), namely, the resonant frequency and the radiative and nonradiative damping rates. Reflectance spectra from resonant Bragg and quasi-Bragg structures with real exciton parameters are calculated, and the effect on these spectra of the refractive-index difference and the deviation from the Bragg condition is analyzed.

Optical study of GaAs quantum dots embedded into AlGaAs nanowires

We report the photoluminescence characterization of GaAs quantum dots embedded in AlGaAs nanowires. Time-integrated and time-resolved photoluminescence was measured for both arrays and single quantum dot/nanowires. The optical spectroscopy data show the influence of growth temperature on the distribution of diameters and the presence of different crystalline phases in the AlGaAs nanowires. By means of scanning and transmission electron microscopy and photoluminescence we observed that the growth temperature has a strong influence on the homogeneity of the nanowires, in size and density. In photoluminescence spectra of a single quantum dot, spectral diffusion was observed in the exciton line. Formation of various crystalline phases in the AlGaAs nanowires leads to very long decay times for the nanowire luminescence, around 20 ns.

Homogeneous linewidth of the direct exciton in a type-II ZnSe/BeTe quantum well

Abstract We present an optical study of novel ZnSe/BeTe heterostructures with a type-II band alignment based on beryllium chalcogenides. A strong exciton transition involving a confined electron and a quasibound hole state (both in the ZnSe layer) is observed in photoluminescence, photoluminescence excitation and reflectivity spectra. This exciton state is drastically broadened by increasing temperature due to enhanced exciton—acoustic phonon interaction. Pronounced features related to the quasibound hole states in the ZnSe layer (upto n = 4) are detected.

Exciton polaritons in quantum wells in a transverse magnetic field

This paper reports on a study of the exciton polariton region in reflection spectra of wide CdTe/CdZnTe quantum wells (with well width exceeding by far the exciton Bohr radius) measured in Voigt geometry in a magnetic field. In a magnetic field, forbidden exciton lines were observed to appear for each exciton quantization level. The exciton diamagnetic shift constant has been observed to decrease noticeably with increasing number of the quantum confined level. A comparison of calculated with experimental spectra reveals a growth of the exciton translational mass with increasing magnetic field. It has been shown that both the growth of mass and the decrease of the diamagnetic shift can be traced to mixing of exciton internal with translational motion states.

Enhancement of the longitudinal magnetic moment of the exciton due to its motion

A new physical phenomenon has been found, namely a giant enhancement of the exciton magnetic moment due to its motion. This phenomenon was observed in GaAs, CdTe and ZnSe based quantum wells with QW widths much larger than the exciton Bohr radius. Consequently, it is relevant to any crystal with zinc blende structure.

Anisotropy of optical constants of ZnSe/BeTe heterostructures with no common atoms at the interfaces

The in-plane anisotropy of the refractive index and absorption coefficient in the blue-green spectral region in ZnSe/BeTe type-II heterostructures with no common atoms at the interface has been studied by ellipsometry in reflection. It was established that the relative difference (anisotropy) in the refractive index and absorption coefficient remains nonzero throughout the range covered and reaches 0.6% for the refractive index and 85% for the absorption coefficient. It was found that, in contrast to excitonic transitions involving a heavy hole, the anisotropy in absorption for the light-hole exciton is larger in magnitude and is of the opposite sign.

Photoluminescence of single quantum wires and quantum dots

The results of a study into the photoluminescence spectra of a set of quantum dots based on GaAs enclosed in AlGaAs nanowires are presented. The steady state and time resolved spectra of photoluminescence under optical excitation both from an array of quantum wires/dots and a single quantum wire/dot have been measured. In the photoluminescence spectra of single quantum dots, emission lines of excitons, biexcitons and tritons have been found. The binding energy of the biexciton in the studied structures was deduced to be 8 meV.

Anomalous in-plane magneto-optical anisotropy of self-assembled quantum dots

We report on a complex nontrivial behavior of the optical anisotropy of quantum dots that is induced by a magnetic field in the plane of the sample. We find that the optical axis either rotates in the opposite direction to that of the magnetic field or remains fixed to a given crystalline direction. A theoretical analysis based on the exciton pseudospin Hamiltonian unambiguously demonstrates that these effects are induced by isotropic and anisotropic contributions to the heavy-hole Zeeman term, respectively. The latter is shown to be compensated by a built-in uniaxial anisotropy in a magnetic field B_c = 0.4 T, resulting in an optical response typical for symmetric quantum dots.

Optical studies of ZnSe/ZnMgSSe-based quantum-well semiconductor heterostructures

Results of an optical study of heterostructures based on new compounds, ZnSe/ZnMgSSe, are presented. The possibility of using these compounds to produce high-quality quantum-well structures having strong exciton features in optical spectra is demonstrated. An analysis of reflectance spectra has yielded the exciton parameters: the resonant frequency, oscillator strength, and exciton line damping. The exciton binding energies have been determined from magneto-optical spectra. The samples studied have a high structural perfection and small inhomogeneous width of the excitonic resonances.

Effect of magneto-spatial dispersion in quantum wells

A new magnetooptical phenomenon referred to as the parity effect is predicted and observed. This effect takes the form of a redistribution of the exciton oscillator strength between spatially even and odd states of the exciton’s center of mass quantization in a wide quantum well.