Improvement of the quantum confined Stark effect characteristics by means of energy band profile modulation: The case of Gaussian quantum wells

Abstract

We study the quantum confined stark effect (QCSE) characteristics in Gaussian quantum wells (GQW). This special energy band profile is built varying the aluminum concentration of the AlGaAs ternary alloy in Gaussian fashion. The semi-empirical sp3s* tight-binding model including spin is used to obtain the energy Stark shifts (ESS) and the wave-function Gaussian spatial overlap (GSO) between electrons and holes for different electric field strengths, quantum well widths and aluminum concentrations. We find that both the ESS and the GSO depend parabolically with respect to the electric field strength and the quantum well width. These QCSE characteristics show an asymmetry for the electric field in the forward and reverse directions, related directly to the different band-offset of electrons and holes, being the negative electric fields (reverse direction) more suitable to reach greater ESS. Two important features are presented by this special energy band profile: (1) reductions of the ESS and (2) enhancements of the GSO of tents to hundreds with respect to parabolic and rectangular quantum wells. Even more, tailoring the quantum well width it is possible to reach GSO of thousands with respect to rectangular quantum wells. Finally, it is important to mention that similar results could be obtained in other quantum well heterostructures of materials such as nitrides, oxides (ZnO), and SiGe whenever the confinement band profiles are modulated in Gaussian form.