G. G. Zegrya

AUGER RECOMBINATION IN SEMICONDUCTOR QUANTUM WELLS

The principal mechanisms of Auger recombination of nonequilibrium carriers in semiconductor heterostructures with quantum wells are investigated. It is shown for the first time that there exist three fundamentally different Auger recombination mechanisms of (i) thresholdless, (ii) quasi-threshold, and (iii) threshold types. The rate of the thresholdless Auger process depends on temperature only slightly. The rate of the quasi-threshold Auger process depends on temperature exponentially. However, its threshold energy essentially varies with quantum well width and is close to zero for narrow quantum wells. It is shown that the thresholdless and the quasi-threshold Auger processes dominate in narrow quantum wells, while the threshold and the quasi-threshold processes prevail in wide quantum wells. The limiting case of a three-dimensional (3D)Auger process is reached for infinitely wide quantum wells. The critical quantum well width is found at which the quasi-threshold and threshold Auger processes merge into a single 3D Auger process. Also studied is phonon-assisted Auger recombination in quantum wells. It is shown that for narrow quantum wells the act of phonon emission becomes resonant, which in turn increases substantially the coefficient of phonon-assisted Auger recombination. Conditions are found under which the direct Auger process dominates over the phonon-assisted Auger recombination at various temperatures and quantum well widths.

Threshold characteristics of InGaAsP/InP multiple quantum well lasers

A theoretical analysis and computer simulation of the threshold current density jth and characteristic temperature T0 of multiple quantum well lasers (MQWLs) are presented. Together with the spontaneous radiative recombination, the Auger recombination and the lateral diffusive leakage of carriers from the active region are included into the model. A first-principle calculation of the Auger recombination current is performed. It is shown that the lateral diffusive leakage current is controlled by the radiative and Auger currents. When calculating the carrier densities, the electrons in the barrier regions are properly taken into account. Redistribution of electrons over the active region is shown to increase the threshold current considerably. The dependences of jth and T0 on temperature, number of QWs, cavity length and lateral size are discussed in detail. The effect of lattice and carrier heating on jth and T0 is investigated and shown to be essential at high temperature.

Mechanisms of Auger recombination in quantum wells

The main mechanisms for the Auger recombination of nonequilibrium carriers in semiconductor quantum-well heterostructures are investigated. It is shown for the first time that there are three fundamentally different Auger recombination mechanisms in quantum wells: 1) a threshold-free mechanism, 2) a quasithreshold mechanism, and 3) a threshold mechanism. The rate of the threshold-free process has a weak temperature dependence. The rate of the quasithreshold Auger process exhibits an exponential temperature dependence. However, the threshold energy depends significantly on the quantum-well width and is close to zero for narrow quantum wells. It is shown that the threshold-free and quasithreshold processes are dominant in fairly narrow quantum wells, while the quasithreshold and threshold Auger processes are dominant in wide quantum wells. The limiting transition to a three-dimensional Auger process is accomplished for a quantum-well width tending to infinity. The value of the critical quantum-well width, at which the quasithreshold and threshold Auger processes combine to form a single three-dimensional Auger recombination process, is found.

Mechanisms of Auger recombination in semiconducting quantum dots

Microscopic calculation of the probability of Auger recombination of charge carriers localized in a semiconducting quantum dot (QD) is carried out. It is shown that two mechanism of Auger recombination (nonthreshold and quasi-threshold) operate in the QD. The nonthreshold Auger recombination mechanism is associated with scattering of a quasimomentum from a heterobarrier, while the quasi-threshold mechanism is connected with spatial confinement of the wave functions of charge carriers to the QD region; scattering of carriers occurs at the short-range Coulomb potential. Both mechanisms lead to a substantial enhancement of Auger recombination at the QD as compared to a homogeneous semiconductor. A detailed analysis of the dependence of Auger recombination coefficient on the temperature and QD parameters is carried out. It is shown that the nonthreshold Auger recombination process dominates at low temperatures, while the quasi-threshold mechanism prevails at high temperatures. The dependence of the Auger recombination coefficient on the QD radius experiences noticeable changes as compared to quantum wells and quantum filaments.

Peak values of the longitudinal conductivity under integer quantum Hall effect conditions for sharp and smooth chaotic potentials

The problem of the peak values of the longitudinal conductivity under integer quantum Hall effect conditions is studied. The limiting cases of sharp and smooth chaotic potentials are considered. In the case of a sharp chaotic potential, the first longitudinal conductivity peak (δxx(0)) obtained by the extrapolation of numerical data to an infinite sample size L→∞ is (0.55±0.03)e2/h. In the case of a smooth chaotic potential, the peak values of the longitudinal conductivity are independent of the Landau level number and decrease as the chaotic-potential correlation length λ increases. The results obtained for sharp and smooth chaotic potentials agree with the reported experimental and numerically calculated data.

Electron-electron relaxation effect on Auger recombination in direct-band semiconductors

Influence of electron-electron relaxation processes on Auger recombination rate in direct band semiconductors is investigated. Comparison between carrier-carrier and carrier-phonon relaxation processes is provided. It is shown that relaxation processes are essential if the free path length of carriers does not exceed a certain critical value, which exponentially increases with temperature. For illustration of obtained results a typical InGaAsP compound is used.

Microscopic theory of Auger recombination in quantum wires

An analysis is made of mechanisms for Auger recombination of nonequilibrium carriers in cylindrical quantum wires. It is shown that two different Auger recombination mechanisms take place in these wires: a quasi-threshold and a nonthreshold mechanism. Both mechanisms are associated with the presence of heterobarriers but are of a different nature. The quasi-threshold mechanism is attributed to the spatial confinement of the carrier wave functions to the region of the quantum wire and in this case the quasi-momentum conservation law is violated and the Auger recombination process is intensified. As the radius of the wire increases, the quasi-threshold Auger recombination process goes over to a threshold process. The nonthreshold mechanism is caused by the scattering of an electron (hole) at the heterojunction; the rate of this nonthreshold Auger recombination tends to zero in the limit of an infinite-radius wire.

Carrier energy spectrum and lifetime in quantum dots in electric field

The S-matrix formalism is used to perform analytical calculations of the spectrum of quasi-stationary states of charge carriers in a core-shell quantum dot. Analytical expressions are obtained for the second-order perturbative corrections to the position and half-width of a quasi-stationary energy level, and level shifts are calculated numerically for a core-shell quantum dot in the presence of an electrostatic field. The corrections to level half-width due to Stark effect are analyzed as functions of level energy and barrier thickness. It is shown that there exists a level position Ecr such that the correction δΓ to the level half-width changes sign. An analytical expression for the quadratic Stark shift in a dc-biased quantum well is found in semiclassical approximation. It is shown that the corresponding correction δΓ to half-width also changes sign as energy passes through Ecr. As an example, the Stark shift is calculated for a core-shell quantum dot in the electrostatic field of an adjacent protein molecule.

Injection cascade lasers with graded gap barriers

We propose cascade structures based on type-II heterostructures with graded barriers separating electron and hole layers. The electron–hole separation is controlled by an external bias due to modification of the barrier shape. This principle can be used for fabrication of a class of devices. In particular, bipolar interband cascade lasers are considered in which an external bias changes the rate of electron–hole radiative recombination by several orders of magnitude. Theoretical calculations predict the feasibility of these lasers.

Nonradiative resonance energy transfer between semiconductor quantum dots

A microscopic analysis of the mechanisms of nonradiative energy transfer in a system of two semiconductor QDs caused by Coulomb interaction of donor and acceptor electrons is performed. The energy transfer rate is calculated for QDs based on III–V compounds using the Kane model. Conditions are analyzed under which energy transfer from a donor to an acceptor is possible. The mixing in of the p states of the valence band to the s states of the conduction band is found to give rise to additional contributions to the matrix element of energy transfer. It is shown that these additional contributions play a considerable role in the energy transfer process at distances between QDs close to contact distances or much greater. The influence of the exchange interaction on the energy transfer mechanism is analyzed, and it is shown that this interaction should be taken into account for a quantitative description of the energy transfer when QDs are separated by a distance close to the contact distance.