Effect of Step Layer Width and Electric Field on Single-Particle States  in Step Quantum Well Structures

Piyawong Poopanya; Natthakan Rueangnetr; Worachet Bukaew; Kanchana Sivalertporn

doi:10.14456/nujst.2022.11

Authors

Piyawong Poopanya Program of Physics, Faculty of Science, Ubon Ratchathani Rajabhat University, Ubon Ratchathani, 34000, Thailand
Natthakan Rueangnetr Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Ubon Ratchathani University, Ubon Ratchathani, 34190, Thailand
Worachet Bukaew Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Ubon Ratchathani University, Ubon Ratchathani, 34190, Thailand
Kanchana Sivalertporn Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Ubon Ratchathani University, Ubon Ratchathani, 34190, Thailand

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14456/nujst.2022.11

Keywords:

step quantum wells, step-layer width, single-particle state

Abstract

The single-particle states in AlGaAs/GaAs and GaInNAs/GaAs step quantum well structures have been theoretically studied by solving straight-forwardly the Schrodinger equation in real space. The electron and hole energy levels were calculated for different well widths and step layer widths. It was found that the energies are decreased with increasing the well width and step layer width, but the change is very small for a wide layer. There are two states with few meV energy splitting observed at the energy a bit above the step potential. Therefore, these two levels can be controlled by varying the step potential. The electron and hole energies in AlGaAs/GaAs and GaInNAs/GaAs step quantum well structures were compared to that in the single squared quantum well. The results showed that the energies decrease with the same trend and comparable percentage for both electron and hole cases. The ground state energy can be decreased up to nearly 50% for the step layer of 10 nm at small well width. The electron and hole energies were also calculated for applied electric fields up to 200 kV/cm. The tilted potential due to the electric field results in the localization of electron and hole in the different layer and breaks the symmetry of their wave functions. At a large enough field, the ground-state electron (hole) is confined in the left (right) step layer which corresponds to the anticrossing at around 130 kV/cm for electron and 70 kV/cm for hole in the field dependence of energy profile.

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