Self-consistent analysis of electric field effects on Si $\delta$-doped GaAs

TL;DR

This paper presents a self-consistent theoretical analysis of how electric fields influence the subband structure in Si δ-doped GaAs quantum wells, revealing abrupt energy level drops and potential for electric field-controlled optical devices.

Contribution

It introduces an efficient self-consistent method to analyze electric field effects on subband structures in δ-doped GaAs, highlighting a novel abrupt energy level drop phenomenon.

Findings

Abrupt energy level drops at certain electric fields.

Formation of secondary well in confining potential.

Significant decrease in oscillator strength between lowest subbands.

Abstract

We theoretically study the subband structure of single Si $\delta$-doped GaAs inserted in a quantum well and subject to an electric field applied along the growth direction. We use an efficient self-consistent procedure to solve simultaneously the Schr\"odinger and Poisson equations for different values of electric field and temperature. We thus find the confining potential, the subband energies and their corresponding envelope functions, the subband occupations, and the oscillator strength of intersubband transitions. Opposite to what is usually the case when dealing with the quantum-confined Stark effect in ordinary quantum wells, we observe an abrupt drop of the energy levels whenever the external field reaches a certain value. This critical value of the field is seen to depend only slightly on temperature. The rapid change in the energy levels is accompanied by the appearance of a secondary well in the confining potential and a strong decrease of the oscillator strength between the two lowest subbands. These results open the possibility to design devices for use as optical filters controlled by an applied electric field.