Surface scattering velocities in III-nitride quantum well laser structures via the emission of hybrid phonons

TL;DR

This paper models surface scattering velocities in III-nitride quantum well laser structures, demonstrating that hybrid phonon emission accurately predicts electron capture rates and aligns well with experimental data.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical and numerical approach using the hybrid phonon model to analyze electron surface capture velocities in nitride-based quantum wells, comparing it with dielectric continuum phonons.

Findings

Hybrid phonon model predictions match dielectric continuum results in the non-retarded limit.

Surface capture velocities depend strongly on structure size and material.

Model results agree with recent experimental measurements.

Abstract

We have theoretically and numerically studied nitride-based quantum well (QW) laser structures. More specifically, we have used a QW made with III-nitride where the width of the barrier region is large relative to the electron mean free path, and we have calculated the electron surface capture velocities by considering an electron flux which is captured into the well region. The process is assisted by the emission of the longitudinal optical phonons as predicted by the hybrid (HB) model. The results of surface capture velocities via the emission of HB phonons are compared to the emission of the dielectric continuum phonons (Zakhleniuk et al 1999 Phys. Status Solidi a 176 79). Our investigation shows that the two different phonon models predict almost the same results for the non-retarded limit. Furthermore, the surface capture velocities strongly depend on the size of the structure and the heterostructure materials. Lastly, a comparison to the recent experimental values shows that our model could accurately describe the experimentally measured parameters of the quantum capture processes.