Investigation of linear and nonlinear optical absorption coefficients and refractive index changes of a zigzag quantum well with structure parameters and applied external fields

Abstract

In this study, we have investigated some linear and nonlinear optical properties of GaAs/GaAlAs zigzag quantum well structures under different electric and magnetic field intensities. We also examined the effect of adjustable structural parameters as well as width on the optical response of the system. The diagonalization method has been the tool to numerically solve the effective mass approximation Schrödinger equation obtaining the energy levels and related wave functions needed to evaluate the expressions of linear, third-order nonlinear, and total optical absorption coefficients and relative refractive index changes derived within the compact density matrix method. Results show that the optical response becomes blue-shifted with the applied electric and magnetic fields’ increment.