Analysis of subband structures and optical properties of periodic strained quantum wires by a finite element method

Abstract

We present theoretical investigations of subband structures and optical absorption properties of periodic quantum wires. The calculation is based on the multiband effective mass theory, where effects such as the valence-band mixing effects, the dependence of crystallographic orientation, and the strain effect using a total energy minimization technique are duly taken into account. We use the finite element method to solve the eigenvalue problem with periodic boundary conditions for the quasitwo-dimensional quantum confinement effect. We study strain effects on subband structures and optical properties, and dependence of the optical properties on the crystallographic orientation.