Electronic properties of site-controlled (111)-oriented zinc-blende InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots calculated using a symmetry adapted $\mathbf{k}\cdot\mathbf{p}$ Hamiltonian

TL;DR

This paper develops a (111)-oriented eight-band k·p Hamiltonian to accurately and efficiently analyze the electronic properties of site-controlled InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots grown along the [111] direction, including strain and piezoelectric effects.

Contribution

The work introduces a symmetry-adapted (111)-oriented Hamiltonian and evaluates its effectiveness for modeling quantum dot electronic properties, reducing computational costs compared to traditional (001)-oriented models.

Findings

The (111)-oriented Hamiltonian accurately describes quantum dot electronic structure.

Second-order piezoelectric effects significantly influence polarization potential.

Reduced computational costs compared to conventional models.

Abstract

In this work, we present and evaluate a (111)-rotated eight-band $\mathbf{k}\cdot\mathbf{p}$ Hamiltonian for the zinc-blende crystal lattice to investigate the electronic properties of site-controlled InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots grown along the [111] direction. We derive the rotated Hamiltonian including strain and piezoelectric potentials. In combination with our previously formulated (111)-oriented continuum elasticity model, we employ this approach to investigate the electronic properties of a realistic site-controlled (111)-grown InGaAs quantum dot. We combine these studies with an evaluation of single-band effective mass and eight-band $\mathbf{k}\cdot\mathbf{p}$ models, to investigate the capabilities of these models for the description of electronic properties of (111)-grown zinc-blende quantum dots. Moreover, the influence of second-order piezoelectric contributions on the polarisation potential in such systems is studied. The description of the electronic structure of nanostructures grown on (111)-oriented surfaces can now be achieved with significantly reduced computational costs in comparison to calculations performed using the conventional (001)-oriented models.