Excitons in asymmetric quantum wells

TL;DR

This study investigates exciton resonance spectra in asymmetric GaAs/InGaAs quantum wells, combining experimental measurements with phenomenological and microscopic modeling to understand the effects of asymmetry and indium segregation.

Contribution

The paper introduces a generalized phenomenological approach for analyzing exciton spectra and demonstrates microscopic modeling that accounts for indium segregation effects in asymmetric quantum wells.

Findings

High-quality exciton resonances observed in asymmetric QWs

Phenomenological fit yields reliable exciton parameters

Microscopic model matches experimental spectra when segregation is included

Abstract

Resonance dielectric response of excitons is studied for the high-quality GaAs/InGaAs heterostructures with wide asymmetric quantum wells (QWs). To highlight effects of the QW asymmetry, we have grown and studied several heterostructures with nominally square QWs as well as with triangle-like QWs. Several quantum confined exciton states are experimentally observed as narrow exciton resonances with various profiles. A standard approach for the phenomenological analysis of the profiles is generalized by introducing of different phase shifts for the light waves reflected from the QWs at different exciton resonances. Perfect agreement of the phenomenological fit to the experimentally observed exciton spectra for high-quality structures allowed us to obtain reliable parameters of the exciton resonances including the exciton transition energies, the radiative broadenings, and the phase shifts. A direct numerical solution of Schr\"{o}dinger equation for the heavy-hole excitons in asymmetric QWs is used for microscopic modeling of the exciton resonances. Remarkable agreement with the experiment is achieved when the effect of indium segregation during the heterostructure growth is taken into account. The segregation results in a modification of the potential profile, in particular, in an asymmetry of the nominally square QWs.