Pyroelectric effect in semiconductor heterostructures

In heterostructures made of dielectric or semiconductor materials a reduction in symmetry can lead to a pyroelectric effect in the heterostructure, even though the effect is forbidden by symmetry in the bulk-crystal constituent materials. The pyroelectric effect resulting from an applied electric fi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Superlattices and microstructures 1993-09, Vol.14 (2-3), p.149-152
Main Authors: Bahder, Thomas B., Tober, Richard L., Bruno, John D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties
Dielectrics, piezoelectrics, and ferroelectrics and their properties
Exact sciences and technology
Physics
Pyroelectric and electrocaloric effects
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In heterostructures made of dielectric or semiconductor materials a reduction in symmetry can lead to a pyroelectric effect in the heterostructure, even though the effect is forbidden by symmetry in the bulk-crystal constituent materials. The pyroelectric effect resulting from an applied electric field and a built-in strain is estimated for the cases of a [100] and [111] growth-axis GaAs-AlGaAs and GaAs-InGaAs quantum well. The effect is shown to produce pyroelectric coefficients on the order of pi = 10-6 C/m2 K, which is comparable to some bulk-crystal pyroelectric materials.
ISSN:0749-6036
1096-3677
DOI:10.1006/spmi.1993.1116