JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS

VOLUME 91, NUMBER 8

15 APRIL 2002

Application of analytical k.p model with envelope function approximation to intersubband transitions in n-type IIIV semiconductor quantum wells
C. W. Cheah and L. S. Tan
Center for Optoelectronics, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119260

G. Karunasiri
Department of Physics, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California 93943

Received 14 August 2001; accepted for publication 12 December 2001 A 14-band k.p model combined with an envelope function approximation has been developed for the analysis of IIIV semiconductor quantum wells by including the six 7 , 8 conduction bands nonperturbatively. With appropriate approximations, the envelope functions associated with the 7 , 8 bands can be expressed in terms of the two 6 conduction band envelope functions, which are the most important components in the electron wave function of an n-type direct-gap IIIV dinger-type equations for compound semiconductor quantum well of zincblende structure. The Schro the 6 conduction band envelope functions are derived, together with the energy-dependent effective mass that includes the effect of band nonparabolicity, as well as the eigenenergy-dependent dinger-type equations and the effective potential for the envelope wave functions. The Schro boundary conditions for the conservation of probability ux in the 14-band k.p model are found to be different from those of the conventional effective mass model. The 14-band model is then applied to the study of intersubband transitions due to transverse magnetic TM and transverse electric TE mode infrared radiation in n-type quantum wells, and the calculated absorption spectra are compared with those computed using an equivalent 8-band k.p model. It is found that the TM absorption spectra calculated using the two models are very similar, but the TE absorption spectra calculated using the 14-band model is up to 6 times higher than that calculated using the 8-band model. A design of the quantum well structure for enhancing TE absorption is also discussed. 2002 American Institute of Physics. DOI: 10.1063/1.1448890

I. INTRODUCTION

Quantum well infrared photodetectors QWIPs have been very well researched for more than two decades. Due to the maturity of MBE growth technology, ease of processing, and high electron mobility, n-type direct-gap IIIV compound semiconductor material systems such as AlGaAs/ GaAs and GaAs/InGaAs quantum wells QWs have been the popular choice for QWIPs.1 These devices employ the electronic behavior around the valley. Since a zincblende semiconductor possesses the symmetry of the tetrahedral group T d , the lowest antibonding conduction bands exhibit spherical symmetry and transform according to the 6 double group with the inclusion of spin states, and thus infrared radiation polarized in the transverse electric TE mode is not expected to excite intersubband transitions in the QW. However, it is also expected that the selection rule governing intersubband transitions will be relaxed due to the effect of band mixing,2 4 i.e., the basis set that describes the electronic states in the conduction bands should also include the p-like valence band, or even the p-like conduction band that transforms according to 7 and 8 double group representations,5,6 as a result of the truncation of the periodic bulk structure. Furthermore, the spatial variation of the material parameters band energies and interband momentum matrix elements manifested in the spatial dependent effec0021-8979/2002/91(8)/5105/11/$19.00 5105

tive mass,7 as well as the formation of subbands,8 also cause the selection rule to relax. The possibility of TE mode intersubband transition is signicant to QWIPs, as it means that normal incidence can then be achieved in a focal plane array without the need for complex fabrication processes such as the grating coupling scheme.8 Over the years, experimental observations of normal incidence absorption have been reported.911 Peng et al.12,13 reported observing a very large TE mode absorption that is comparable in magnitude to transverse magnetic TM mode absorption in GaAs/AlGaAs QWs, and invoked a 14-band k.p model5 to account for the large TE mode absorption. However, the calculation was later questioned by Lew Yan Voon et al.14 and a debate ensued.15,16 Flatte et al.6 conducted a theoretical study on the GaAs/AlGaAs superlattice by including the upper p-like conduction band states in the 8-band k.p model perturbatively and concluded that the upper limit for the ratio of TE to TM absorption is about 20%. Liu et al.17 performed further experiments and found that the ratios of TE to TM absorption in GaAs/AlGaAs and InGaAs/ AlGaAs QWs are no more than 0.2% and 3%, respectively. However, the issue of how large the TE absorption can actually be remains largely unresolved. In this article, a 14-band k.p model with envelope function approximation is developed with the 6 upper 7 , 8
2002 American Institute of Physics

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conduction bands included nonperturbatively. The envelope functions associated with the p-like valence and conduction bands are expressed analytically in terms of the envelope functions associated with the spin-up and spin-down 6 con dinger-type equations for the two duction bands, and Schro conduction band envelope functions are derived. The energydependent effective mass that includes the effect of band nonparabolicity as well as the energy-dependent effective potential for the envelope functions can be derived easily from the equations. The boundary conditions that couple the spin-up and spin-down 6 envelope wave functions are also derived. Calculated absorption spectra for TM and TE mode infrared excitations for several QW structures are presented and compared with those obtained using the 8-band k.p model. Based on these results, a possible design of the QW structure for improving TE absorption is proposed and discussed.
II. 14-BAND k.p MODEL WITH ENVELOPE FUNCTION APPROXIMATION

V ( r ) is the electrostatic potential eld of the crystal at equilibrium. By substituting Eq. 1 into Eq. 2, followed by projecting the resultant equation onto each of the 14 basis Bloch functions, and integrating over a unit cell, the following secular equation is obtained:

l0 E n k , q 1 m0

2 z p

2m0

2k 2 2m0

z p

k n f z , k , q ml 0, m0 l

fn l z , k , q ml 3

where l 0 is the band edge energy at point for the lth band, ml is the Kronecker delta,

ml

* r p um

V r 4 m 0c 2

u l r d 3r

Since the bulk periodicity in the in-plane direction is assumed to be preserved, the electron wave function of a multiple quantum well MQW can be expressed as18 22

n r , k , q e ik r f n l z , k , q u l r ,
l

and is the volume of the unit cell. In the above derivation, it has been assumed that the envelope functions vary much more slowly in real space compared to the Bloch functions,22 i.e.,

where l runs through the set of Bloch functions chosen to form the set of basis functions for the Hilbert space, q is the superlattice wave vector, k and r are the in-plane wave vector and position vector, respectively. u l ( r ) is the point zone center basis Bloch function of the lth band, and fn l ( z , k , q ) is the z i.e., growth direction-dependent envelope function associated with the lth band and nth subband. The term e ik r u l ( r ) preserves the periodicity of the crystal in the in-plane direction for any off-zone center state. The 14 zone center basis functions chosen are shown in Table I. Following the argument of group theory, it is well known that under the symmetry operation of the T d group for all zincblende type crystals with noninversion symmetry, the nonzero interband momentum matrix elements are23 x X v i S p y Y v i S p z Z v , P i S p y Z c i X v p z Y c i Y v p z X c Q i X v p x Z c i Z v p x Y c i Z v p y X c , i Y v p x X c i S p y Y c i S p z Z c . R i S p The nonrelativistic time-independent single electron dinger equation including the spinorbit coupling conSchro sidered in this study can be written as

3 fn l z , k , q u l r d r

3 fn l z,k ,q d r

u l r d 3r ,

and that the spinorbit coupling between the different band edges is negligible, so that 1 u l r d 3r p ml . * r p um

ml

1 2 V r n r , k , q p V r p 2 2m0 4m2 0c E n k n r , k , q , 2

i , is the modied Plancks constant, m 0 is where p the free electron mass, c is the speed of light, is the spin operator, E n ( k ) is the eigenenergy of the nth subband, and

Equation 3 is used to express the envelope functions associated with the 7 , 8 valence and conduction bands in terms of the 6 conduction band envelope functions f c and f c . In order to simplify the algebraic operation, the free kinetic energy terms of all the envelope functions associated with the 7 , 8 bands, as well as the terms involving the coupling between the 7 , 8 valence and conduction bands that are directly proportional to the in-plane wave vector k i.e., terms involving Qk ), are neglected from the operation. The free kinetic energy contributed by the 7 , 8 band states, ( 2 /2m 0 )( 2 / z 2 ) f 7,8 , is expected to be small. As for the coupling terms involving Qk , the electrons are expected to occupy the states close to the valley for the typical doping and temperature concerned, and hence only small k are considered. Moreover, such coupling terms are zero at the zone center ( k 0), which is the case in many theoretical studies. Therefore, the 12 envelope functions arguments of which are omitted for brevity can be expressed as

J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 91, No. 8, 15 April 2002 TABLE I. 14-band basis Bloch functions at point zone center of IIIV compound semiconductor. Associated band Conduction band

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Bloch functions 1 1 ucr r , irS 2 2

1 1 ucr r , irS 2 2

Heavy hole band

3 3 1 r X v iY v uhhr r , 2 2 v 2

3 3 1 uhhr r , r X v iY v 2 2 v 2

Light hole band

3 1 ulhr r , 2 2 v

2 1 rZ v r X v iY v 3 6

3 1 ulhr r , 2 2 v

2 1 rZ v r X v iY v 3 6

Spinorbit valence band

1 1 1 1 rZ v usohr r , r X v iY v 2 2 v 3 3

1 1 1 1 usohr r , rZ v r X v iY v 2 2 v 3 3

Heavy electron band

3 3 1 uher r , r X c iY c 2 2 c 2

3 3 1 uher r , r X c iY c 2 2 c 2

Light electron band

3 1 uler r , 2 2 c

2 1 rZ c r X c iY c 3 6

3 1 uler r , 2 2 c

2 1 rZ c r X c iY c 3 6

Spinorbit conduction band

1 1 1 1 usoer r , r Z c r X c iY c 2 2 c 3 3

1 1 1 1 usoer r , r Z c r X c iY c 2 2 c 3 3

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f hh

1 kP 1 Q f c 2 m 0 hh 3 m 0 hh le soe H 2 c 2 le soe 2 2 H c 3 k PQ 2 f c hh m0 z2

f soh

3 m 0 lh soh H 2 v

2 lh H v
he

i 2 k QR f 2 lh H v k P f c m0 z c

2 le soe 2 2 H c i 2 k R 2 le soe H c 2 R

f z c

lh 2 H v i P

2 z2

f c ,

f , z c

10

5 f he

f lh

1 lh soh H 2 v

3 m 0

soh 2 H v he

k R 1 Q 1 f c 2 m 0 he 3 m 0 he lh soh H 2 2 lh soh 2 2 H v 3 k QR 2 f c he m0 z2

i 2 k QR f soh 2 H v k P f c m0 z c

2 lh soh 2 2 H v i 2 k P 6 2 lh soh H v 2 P

f z c

2 soh H v i P

, f z c

2 z2

f c ,

11

f soh

1 lh soh H 2 v

3 m 0

2 lh H v
he

f le

1 le soe H 2 c

3 m 0

soe 2 H c i 2 k PQ hh m0

i 2 k QR f 2 lh H v k P f c m0 z c

lh 2 H v i P

f , z c

f soe 2 H c k R f c z c f , z c

2 soe H c i R

12

f hh

kP 1 Q 1 f c 2 m 0 hh 3 m 0 hh le soe H 2 c 2 le soe 2 2 H c 3 k PQ 2 f c hh m0 z2

f soe

1 le soe H 2 c

3 m 0

2 le H c

i 2 k PQ 1 f 2 le H c m0 hh z c

2 le soe 2 2 H c i 2 k R 2 le soe H c 2 R

f z c

k R f c le 2 H c i R

f , z c

2 z2

f c ,

13

8 f he

f lh

1 lh soh H 2 v

3 m 0

soh 2 H v he

1 k R 1 Q f c 2 m 0 he 3 m 0 he lh soh H 2 2 lh soh 2 2 H v 3 k QR 2 f c he m0 z2

i 2 k QR f soh 2 H v k P f c m0 z c

2 lh soh 2 2 H v i 2 k P 9 2 lh soh H v 2 P

f z c

2 soh H v i P

f , z c

2 z2

f c ,

14

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5109

f le

1 le soe H 2 c

3 m 0

soe 2 H c i 2 k PQ hh m0

f soe

1 le soe H 2 c

3 m 0

2 le H c

i 2 k PQ m0

f soe 2 H c k R f c z c , f z c

2 soe H c i R

1 f 2 le H c k R f c hh z c

15

le 2 H c i R

, f z c

16

l l where, in the above equations, l l 0 ( 2 k 2 /2m 0 ) E H , and H is the deformation potential correction to the lth band 24 edge due to strain. H v is the term due to strain that couples the light hole and spinorbit valence bands, and H c is the term that couples the light electron and the spinorbit conduction bands via strain.25 Projecting Eq. 4 onto u c and integrating over a unit cell results in the following equation:

c k f c

2 2 f 2 m 0 z 2 c

2 i P 1 i P kP 1 kP f f f f 3 m 0 z lh 3 m 0 z soh m 0 hh 3 m 0 lh

2 kP f 3 m 0 soh 17

kP f m 0 he

1 iR 1 k R 2 iR f f le f soe 3 m0 z 3 m 0 z 3 m 0 le

2 k R f 0. 3 m 0 soe

dinger-type equation involving f c is obtained as follows: By substituting Eqs. 5 16 into Eq. 17, a Schro c f c

2 2 i P 1 f 2 2 2 H i P f c lh soh v 2 2 2m0 z2 z c 3 m 0 z lh soh H v

he 2 k QR 1 kP f c 2 lh soh H v k P f c 2 m0 z 3 m 0 lh soh H 2 v

2 lh soh H v

2 lh soh H v i P k R 1

2 3m3 0 he lh soh H v

2 lh soh 2 2 H v 3 k QR f c f 2 lh soh 2 2 H v k P f c z he m0 z c 2 z
f 2 c

2 lh soh H v 2 PQ

2 lh soh 2 2 H v

i 2 k PQ 1 2k k R 2 iR f c f c 2 2 z m0 z m0 3m0 le soe H 2 c

2 lh soh 2 2 H v 3 k Q 2 R 2 f c he m0 z2

le 2 soe 2 2 H c i R k R 1

2 3m2 0 le soe H c

2 2 H c k R f c

2 le soe H c 2 k PQ f c f 2 le soe H c k R f c z hh m0 z c
2 le soe 2 2 H c 3 k PQ f c f 2 le soe z hh m0 z c
2 le soe H c 2 QR

2 le soe H c i R

kP 3m3 0

1 hh le soe H 2 c

2 z

f 2 c

i 2 k QR 3 k PQ 2 2 2k k P 2 f f 2 2 2 H f c 0. c le soe c m0 m0 z c z2 m2 0

2 le soe 2 2 H c hh 18

In each layer of homogeneous material, Eq. 18 can be reduced to where

2 2 f v i f c V eff E f c 0, 2 m z z 2 c z

19

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1 1 2 P 2 lh 2 soh 2 2 H v R 2 le 2 soe 2 2 H c 2 2k k Q 2R 2 mz m0 3m2 lh soh H 2 le soe H 2 3m4 0 c 0 v

2 lh soh 2 2 H v
2 he lh soh H 2 v

2 le soe 2 2 H c
2 hh le soe H 2 c

, 2 le soe 2 2 H c hh le soe H 2 c

2 k x k y k x k y PQR 2 lh soh 2 2 H v 3m3 0 k k

2

he lh soh H 2 v

, 20

V eff E c H c

m*

1 3 3 1 P2 2 lh soh 2 2 H v R2 2 le soe 2 2 H c . 2 2 2 m m 0 3 m 0 hh lh soh H v 3 m 0 he le soe H 2 c

It is interesting to note that in the 14-band k.p model, Eq. dinger equation in the effec19, which resembles the Schro tive mass model, contains a term of rst order in derivative which diminishes at the zone center as well as along the 110 and equivalent directions. This term does not exist in the 8-band k.p model as the crystal is assumed to be of inversion symmetry. In addition, the effective mass, m z , in the growth direction also possesses additional contributions proportional to the in-plane wave vector which is not present in the 8-band k.p model and the conventional single band effective mass model. It is also worth noting that the in-plane effective mass, m , converges with m z at the zone center only if there is no strain and spinorbit coupling. dinger-type equation for the spin down 6 The Schro conduction band electron envelope function, f c , can be derived following the same procedure and the resultant equation within each homogeneous material layer is similar to Eq. 19, i.e.,

i 2k k f c f c f , m z0 z m z m c where lh 2 soh 2 2 H v 1 2 1 P2 2 m z0 m 0 3 m 0 lh soh H 2 v R2 le 2 soe 2 2 H c le soe H 2 c

22

1 2 PQR m 3m3 0

2 lh soh H v
he lh soh H 2 v

2 le soe H c
hh le soe H 2 c

2 lh soh H v 1 2 P2 2 m 3m0 lh soh H 2 v

R2

23

2 le soe H c
le soe H 2 c

2 2 f c v i f c V eff E f c 0. 2 2mz z z

21

Similarly, the other boundary condition that originates from f c is the continuity of 2k k i f c f c f . m z0 z m z m c 24

Although the functions f c and f c are decoupled from each other within each homogeneous layer, they are actually coupled at the abrupt interface, which is apparent in Eq. 18. In order to arrive at the boundary conditions, it is assumed that the envelope functions f c and f c are continuous across the boundary between two different layers of material. This assumption implies that the basis functions of the 6 bands are sufciently similar in each material. The boundary condition that governs the probability ux can be arrived at by integrating Eq. 18 across the boundary over an innitesimally small region, which results in the continuity of

As seen in Eqs. 22 and 24, the spin-up and spin-down 6 states are coupled at the interface, and the coupling is proportional to the spinorbit split off energy as well as strain. Therefore, f c and f c are to be solved as a pair of coupled solutions for the total wave function as dened in Eq. 1. The two functions are only decoupled from each other at the zone center, and this approach is different from that of Ref. 3, in which f c and f c are considered decoupled even at off-zone center states. The inclusion of the upper six p-like conduction bands enhances the coupling effect

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at the interface. The eigenstates can now be solved by the standard transfer matrix method with periodic boundary conditions. If the terms proportional to v in Eqs. 19 and 21, as well as the terms inversely proportional to m in Eqs. 22 and 24, are neglected as they are generally quite small compared to the other terms, then the solutions for f c and

f c are in simple plane wave representation. In addition, the resultant transfer matrix is of rotational symmetry about the growth axis such that all the states at the same distance from the zone center are degenerate. A second independent solution of the eigenfunction at k is the time reversal of the eigenfunction at k , i.e.,

r , k , q R z r , k , q R z e ik r f l z , k , q u l r
l

* z , k , q u c r f hh * z , k , q u hh r f lh * z , k , q u lh r f soh * z , k , q u soh r e ik r f c * z , k , q u c r f hh * z , k , q u hh r f lh * z , k , q u lh r f soh * z , k , q u soh r fc * z , k , q u he r f le * z , k , q u le r f soe * z , k , q u soe r f he * z , k , q u he r f he * z , k , q u le r f soe * z , k , q u soe r , f le

25

where is the time reversal operator, and R z is the rotational operator about the z axis by . From the rotational symmetry of Eqs. 22 and 24 as shown in Appendix A, Eq. 25 is obtained by taking f c z , k , q f c z , k , q , f c z , k , q f c z , k , q , 26 27

p A, 3 It obeys Coulomb gage, i.e., A 0 A p where A is the vector potential of the magnetic eld. By Fermis golden rule, the transition rate from the ith state to the jth state is given by Wi j where

2 ( E j E i) 2 ij

and substituting Eqs. 26 and 27 into Eqs. 5 16. The operations of R z on the basis functions are well known. As shown in Appendix B, the wave function in Eq. 25 is orthogonal to the wave function dened in Eq. 1 and the two wave functions are therefore independent of each other.
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

i j

e j r , q , k dr 3 * r , q , k A p m0 i

To demonstrate the application of the 14-band k.p model that has been developed here, the absorption spectra of several MQWs are calculated. In the calculations, the following assumptions about the electromagnetic eld are made.26 1 The electromagnetic eld is small. 2 It has a relatively long wavelength compared to the dimension in the growth direction of the MQW, and thus is constant over the structure.

is the transition probability due to the electromagnetic per between the ith and jth states, and e turbation of ( e / m 0 ) A p is the electronic charge. To include the effect of relaxation and line broadening due to scattering, the Dirac delta function is replaced by a Lorentzian function in W i j , i.e.,

E jEi

/ 2
E j E i 2 /2 2

where is the linewidth. If the magnetic vector potential is is the eld direc A 0 cos(kort), where e given by A e tion, k 0 is the eld wave vector, and is the angular frequency, then the absorption coefcient can be expressed as

()

2c 1 V n r 2A 2 0

k E(k)

2 / 2 EGE(k) 2 [ f ( E G ) f ( E ( k ))] E k E G 2 /2 2
EG(k )E(k ) 2

c
2 n r
2

A2 0L

E ( k ) E k E G k 2 /2 2

[ f ( E G ( k )) f ( E (( k ))] ( E ( k )) dE ( k ) dk 2

28

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for a transition between the ground state at energy E G ( k ) to the excited state at ( E ( k ), as the transition preserves the in-plane crystal momentum k because a photon carries little momentum. In Eq. 28 is the permeability and n r is the refractive index of the material, respectively, the function f is the Fermi distribution function and the density of states ( E ( k )) is given by8

E k

1 N

E q k E q k q

q 1 q q q 1 N dE k / dq N dE k / dq
dy dy 1 L 1 , N d dE k dE k

29

where y qd , L Nd , d is the length of each period, and N is the number of periods in the entire QWIP structure. The MQWs analyzed in this article are assumed to be n-type, uniformly doped in the well region at a concentration of 2 1018 cm 3 and undoped in the rest of the device. The offset in the conduction bands of the barrier and well regions is taken to be 65% of the total band gap difference. The absorption spectra are computed by taking ve subbands into account, and a linewidth of 20 meV in the Lorentzian function is assumed. The absorption spectra of a square MQW with a periodic structure of 40 In0.3Ga0.7As/300 GaAs calculated using the present 14-band model as well as the equivalent 8-band model are shown in Fig. 1. This structure has only one bound state in the well and the transition is from bound to continuum. As can be observed in Fig. 1a, the TM absorption strengths calculated with both the 14-band and the 8-band models are very similar. Both the absorption spectra exhibit asymmetry with a slope decreasing more slowly into the high energy region due to the nature of bound to continuum transition. The TM absorption spectrum calculated with the 14band model is slightly narrower, and the peak is slightly higher, than that of the 8-band model, because the C2 subband produced by the 14-band model is closer to the barrier conduction edge and the states are closer to being quasibound. The TE absorption spectra in Fig. 1b calculated with the two models are very different from each other. The peak absorption strength obtained with the 14-band model is approximately 4 times as large as that obtained with the 8-band model. The additional contribution to TE absorption in the 14-band model comes from the coupling between the 6 conduction band and the 7 , 8 conduction bands via the interband momentum matrix R, where the contribution from the spinorbit coupling energy between the 7 , 8 conduction bands is introduced. Furthermore, there is also the contribution from the coupling between the 7 , 8 conduction bands and the 7 , 8 valence bands via the interband momentum matrix Q. The absorption spectra of a bound to bound type square MQW with a periodic structure of 60 In0.3Ga0.7As/300 GaAs are shown in Fig. 2. The TM absorption spectra in Fig. 2a obtained with the 14-band and 8-band models are again very similar. The slightly different resonant energies in the

FIG. 1. Absorption spectra of a 40 In0.3Ga0.7As/300 GaAs square QW calculated using the 14-band and 8-band k.p models in response to a TM mode radiation, b TE mode radiation.

two spectra are due to the additional coupling to the 7 , 8 conduction bands in the 14-band model, which results in a slightly different effective mass and effective potential for the envelope wave functions. The TM absorption spectra of this MQW are much stronger than those of the bound-tocontinuum type shown in Fig. 1a. The peak of the TM absorption in the 8-band model is larger than that of the 14-band model because the strong bound to bound TM absorption is dominated by the contribution of the s-like 6 conduction band envelope wave functions. In the framework of the 8-band model, the contribution of the 6 conduction band envelope wave functions is relatively larger in the total normalized wave function as compared to the normalized wave function in the framework of the 14-band model, in which the wave function is the linear combination of 14 components instead of 8. In Fig. 2b, the TE absorption spectrum calculated with the 14-band model is also much larger than that of the 8-band model. Several prominent peaks are clearly observable in both the TE absorption spectra and it is worth noting that the maximum peak is due to the transition from the C1 to C4 subbands, instead of the transition from the C1 to C2 subbands. This is because the states in the bound C2 subbands exhibit strong odd parity and therefore the transition from the C1 to C2 due to TE polarized eld is supposedly forbidden by the parity selection rule. However, the spatial variation of the material pa-

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FIG. 2. Absorption spectra of a 60 In0.3Ga0.7As/300 GaAs square QW calculated using the 14-band and 8-band k.p models in response to a TM mode radiation, b TE mode radiation.

FIG. 3. Absorption spectra of a 40 In0.15Ga0.85As/40 GaAs/300 Al0.15Ga0.85As stepped QW calculated using the 14-band and 8-band k.p models in response to a TM mode radiation, b TE mode radiation.

rameters, the nite subband width and the coupling to the 7 , 8 bands relax the selection rule and actually allow the transition to occur, albeit with a rather small magnitude. The TE absorption strength due to the C1 to C2 transition in the 14-band model is approximately twice that in the 8-band model. On the other hand, the transition from C1 to the subbands in the continuum in the 14-band model is about 4 times as large as that of the 8-band model. This is likely due to the contribution from the more signicant coupling to the 7 , 8 conduction bands of the excited states in the 14-band model because the excited states in the continuum are energetically closer to the upper conduction bands. From these calculations, it can be concluded that for a symmetric square MQW, the TE absorption is dominated by the contribution of the transitions to the excited states in the continuum. Therefore, the TE absorption spectrum is always broader and its peak position deviates from that of the TM absorption spectrum. The absorption spectra calculated with both the 14-band and 8-band models of another MQW is shown in Fig. 3. The periodic structure of this MQW is an asymmetric stepped QW with a structure of 300 Al0.15Ga0.85As/40 GaAs/40 In0.15Ga0.85As, and the intersubband transitions are of the bound-to-bound type. As shown in Fig. 3a, the TM absorption spectra calculated with both the 14-band and 8-band models are again very similar, with the peak absorption obtained from the 8-band model being slightly larger for the

same reason as that of the bound-to-bound square MQW. The TM absorption strength of the stepped MQW is larger than that of the bound-to-continuum square MQW due to the bound-to-bound nature, but is smaller than that of the boundto-bound square MQW due to the breaking of inversion symmetry. The bound states in the C2 subband do not exhibit any denite parity. Consequently, as shown in Fig. 3b, the TE absorption strength is almost twice as large in the stepped MQW than in the square MQW. This is in agreement with the theoretical study conducted by Yang et al.7 The peak TE absorption calculated with the 14-band model is approximately 6 times larger compared to that of the 8-band model. It is also worth noting that the TE absorption spectra of the stepped MQW is dominated by the transition from the C1 to C2 subbands, similar to that of the TM absorption spectra.
IV. CONCLUSION

In this article we have presented an analytical form of the 14-band k.p model for the study of intersubband transitions in QWs by including the upper 7 , 8 conduction bands nonperturbatively. It is found that the effective mass dinger-type equations, as well as the boundary condiSchro tions for the probability ux for the envelope functions, are not exactly the same as those of the conventional effective mass model that can be easily derived from the 8-band k.p model. The expressions for the effective masses in the

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growth and in-plane directions are also derived. It is found that the inclusion of the 7 , 8 conduction bands, although not important in the theoretical study of TM intersubband transitions, is crucial in the study of TE absorption. However, the computed TE absorption strength remains very small compared to the TM absorption, and is typically less than 1%. The breaking of symmetry in the design of the QWIP is also found to signicantly improve the magnitude and the shape of the TE absorption spectra.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

f soh z , k , q f soh z , k , q , f he z , k , q f he z , k , q , f le z , k , q f le z , k , q , f soe z , k , q f soe z , k , q , f he z , k , q f he z , k , q , f le z , k , q f le z , k , q ,

B6 B7 B8 B9 B10 B11 B12

This work was supported by the Singapore National Science and Technology Board under Grant No. NSTB/17/2/3 GR 6471 Project 4, and the National University of Singapore in the form of a research scholarship for C. W. Cheah.
APPENDIX A

f soe z , k , q f soe z , k , q .

By omitting the terms involving m in Eqs. 22 and 24, the boundary conditions become the continuity of k i f f m z0 z c m c and k i f f , m z0 z c m c A2 A1

Equations 26, 27 and Eqs. B1 to B12 are the 14 envelope wave functions for the state k , and are the resultant envelope wave functions under the operation of R z ( ) on the envelope wave functions for the state k . The time reversal operator only takes the rotated envelope wave functions into their complex conjugation.2729 However, due to the spin states in the basis Bloch functions, is an antiunitary operator that assumes the form UK , where U is a unitary operator, and only operates on the spin states. K is an antiunitary operator and performs complex conjugation on its operand. U is chosen as the Pauli matrix and mixes spin state, i.e., U y

0 i

i 0

together with the continuity of f c and f c at the abrupt heterojunction. The continuity of Eq. A1 across the boundary ensures the continuity of e i where e ten as

i k f c f , m z0 z m c

Since spin state transforms like spinor according to the representation D 1/2 in a full rotation group, the rotation R z ( ) for spin spinor is30 D 1/2 0,0,

A3

is a constant phase. Equation A3 can be rewrit-

i 0

0 i

k e i i i f c f c e m z0 z m and Eq. A2 can also be rewritten as k e i i i f f c . e m z0 z c m

A4

and for the p-like functions that transform according to the representation of D 1 of the full rotation group, R z ( ) possesses the form

D 1 0,0, A5

1 0 0

0 1 0

0 0 1

Therefore, ( e i f c , f c ) is the pair of solutions for the envelope wave functions at the state k e i , which is the in-plane state at an angle to the in-plane state at k .
APPENDIX B

Therefore, the total R z ( ) for the basis Bloch function is simply R z D 1/2 0,0, D 1 0,0, . The operation of R z ( ) on the wave function in Eq. 1 thus results in Eq. 25. The inner product of the wave functions in Eq. 1 and Eq. 25 is

By substituting Eqs. 26 and 27 into Eqs. 5 16, we have f hh z , k , q f hh z , k , q , f lh z , k , q f lh z , k , q , f soh z , k , q f soh z , k , q , f hh z , k , q f hh z , k , q , f lh z , k , q f lh z , k , q , B1 B2 B3 B4 B5

R z e ik r

f l z , k , q u l r

e ik r B13

f l z , k , q u l r d 3r .

By taking the approximation in Eq. 4 and the orthogonality of the Bloch functions of the different bands, the integrand of Eq. B13 is

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f c z , k , q f c z , k , q f c z , k , q f c z , k , q f hh z , k , q f hh z , k , q f lh z , k , q f lh z , k , q f soh z , k , q f soh z , k , q f hh z , k , q f hh z , k , q f lh z , k , q f lh z , k , q f soh z , k , q f soh z , k , q f he z , k , q f he z , k , q f le z , k , q f le z , k , q f soe z , k , q f soe z , k , q f he z , k , q f he z , k , q f le z , k , q f le z , k , q f soe z , k , q f soe z , k , q 0. Hence the two wave functions are degenerate and should be included in the computation of the intersubband transition momentum matrix.
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