Comparison of optical nonlinearities in piezoelectric strained [111]- and [001]-grown (In,Ga)As/(Al,Ga)As quantum wells

Abstract

The nonlinear absorption and refractive index spectra for [111]- and [001]-grown (In,Ga)As/(Al,Ga)As single strained-layer quantum-well structures are calculated, for different photogenerated carrier densities. Screening of the strain-induced electric field by photocarriers that have escaped from the [111]-grown quantum well is shown to produce a similar magnitude of nonlinear refractive cross section to that of the conventional [001]-grown quantum well.