Donor states in Te-Doped GaAs l−xP x

Abstract

We have investigated the level configuration of the valence subbands in GaAs/GaAs1−xPx (x = 0.23) strained-barrier quantum well structures as a function of the well width. Circularly polarized photoluminescence excitation (CPPLE) spectroscopy was used to identify the heavy- or light-hole character of the optical transitions. Distinct polarization properties were observed in the strain-split heavy- and light-hole bands in the GaAsP barriers, which indicates the photoexcited electrons in the barriers retain spin orientation well even after the capture into the well and the relaxation process. Utilizing this polarization tendency of the transitions in the barriers, we could distinguish unequivocally the heavy- and light-hole character of the quantum well-related transitions. By varying the well width systematically, we observed the level crossing between n = 1 heavy- and light-hole transitions around the well width of 4 nm. This is in good agreement with the calculation based on the effective mass approximation.