Valence band offset, strain and shape effects on confined states in self-assembled InAs/InP and InAs/GaAs quantum dots

• Published in: Journal of physics. Condensed matter 2013-11, Vol.25 (46), p.465301-16
• Main Author: Zieli ski, M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Electron states and collective excitations in thin films, multilayers, quantum wells, mesoscopic and nanoscale systems; Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures; Exact sciences and technology; Gallium arsenide; Gallium arsenides; Indium arsenides; Indium phosphides; Offsets; Physics; Quantum dots; Strain; Valence band
• ISSN: 0953-8984; 1361-648X
• DOI: 10.1088/0953-8984/25/46/465301

I present a systematic study of self-assembled InAs/InP and InAs/GaAs quantum dot single-particle and many-body properties as a function of the quantum dot-surrounding matrix valence band offset. I use an atomistic, empirical tight-binding approach and perform numerically demanding calculations for half-million-atom nanosystems. I demonstrate that the overall confinement in quantum dots is a non-trivial interplay of two key factors: strain effects and the valence band offset. I show that strain effects determine both the peculiar structure of confined hole states of lens type InAs/GaAs quantum dots and the characteristic 'shell-like' structure of confined hole states in the commonly considered 'low-strain' lens type InAs/InP quantum dot. I also demonstrate that strain leads to single-band-like behavior of hole states of disk type ('indium flushed') InAs/GaAs and InAs/InP quantum dots. I show how strain and valence band offset affect quantum dot many-body properties: the excitonic fine structure, an important factor for efficient entangled photon pair generation, and the biexciton and charged exciton binding energies.