POLAR VIBRATION SPECTRA OF INTERFACE AND SURFACE OPTICAL PHONONS AND THEIR FRÖHLICH ELECTRON-PHONON INTERACTIONS IN FREESTANDING SYMMETRICAL AND ASYMMETRICAL WURTZITEGaN/Ga1-xAlxNMULTI-LAYER HETEROSTRUCTURES

Abstract

Under the dielectric continuum model and Loudon's uniaxial crystal model, by adopting the transfer matrix method, the dispersion properties of the interface optical (IO) and surface optical (SO) phonon modes and their couplings with electrons in multi-layer coupling wurtzite quantum wells (QWs) are deduced and analyzed via the method of electrostatic potential expanding. Numerical calculations on a freestanding symmetrical wurtzite QW and an asymmetrical wurtzite QW have been performed. Results reveal that, in general, there are four branches of IO and two branches of SO phonon modes in the systems. The dispersions of these IO and SO phonon modes are obvious only when the free two-dimensional phonon wave number ktparallel to the heterostructure interfaces is small. The degenerating behavior for these phonon modes has been clearly observed for small kt. When ktis relatively large, with the increase in kt, the frequencies of the IO and SO phonon modes converge to some definite limiting frequencies in corresponding wurtzite single planar heterostructure. This feature have been analyzed in depth from the mathematical and physical viewpoints. The calculations of electron-phonon coupling function show that, the electrostatic potential distribution of the IO and SO mode in freestanding symmetrical wurtzite QW is either symmetrical or is antisymmetrical; but that in freestanding asymmetrical wurtzite QW is neither symmetrical nor is antisymmetric. The calculation also shows that the SO modes and the short wavelength phonon modes play a more important role in the electron-phonon interaction.