Strain effects on normal incidence hole intersubband absorption in a p-type semiconductor quantum well

Abstract

We theoretically investigate the effects of strain on normal incidence hole intersubband absorption in p-type semiconductor quantum well. We found that for the normal incident light the most prominent transition probability and absorption coefficient are from the first heavy hole subband to the first light hole subband. Since the strain in the quantum well layer changes the energy split between the first heavy and light hole subbands, the absorption coefficient peak can be tailored to occur at a desired wavelength (say λ=10 μm) by changing the strain.