Abstract
The optical transitions and band alignments of PbTe/Pb1−xSrxTe and PbSe/Pb1−xSrxSe multi-quantum-well heterostructures were studied using temperature-modulated absorption spectroscopy and envelope function calculations. By taking advantage of the strain-induced splitting of conduction- and valence-band states at the different L points of the Brillouin zone, a reliable determination of the band offsets is obtained, taking into account the biaxial strain of the quantum wells derived by x-ray diffraction. Through this analysis, the normalized conduction-band offsets are determined as ΔEc/ΔEg=0.45±0.05 for the PbTe/Pb1−xSrxTe system and 0.6±0.1 for the PbSe/Pb1−xSrxSe system for Sr contents up to 13%. Within the experimental precision, the band offsets are independent of temperatures from 20–300 K. With these parameters, precise modeling of the energy levels and optical transitions is achieved as required for optoelectronic device applications.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 195310 |
| Pages (from-to) | 195310 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Physical Review B |
| Volume | 90 |
| Issue number | 19 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 18 Nov 2014 |
Fields of science
- 103 Physics, Astronomy
JKU Focus areas
- Nano-, Bio- and Polymer-Systems: From Structure to Function