Semiconductor Materials and Nanostructures

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter introduces the physics of semiconductor heterostructures and nanostructures. The electronic and optical properties of the most common III–V and II–VI binary semiconductor compounds and their alloys are presented and discussed. The concept of pseudomorphic heterostructures comprising strained layers of these materials is introduced and the basic effects of spatial confinement are considered, focusing on two-dimensional structures (quantum wells) and zero-dimensional structures (quantum dots). In both cases the electron spectra and optical transitions are defined in the framework of a multiband envelope function approximation. Excitonic fine structure is represented both in quantum wells and quantum dots in terms of the symmetry reduction induced by the carrier confining potential. The relationships presented in the chapter allow one to predict the energy and strength of optical transitions, depending on sizes and shapes of semiconductor nanostructures; they can be used to justify the choice of particular nanostructures for the purposes of plasmonics.