Strain-dependent optical properties of [113]-oriented InGaAs/GaAs quantum well

Abstract

A numerical approach is presented to study the optical properties of compressively strained [113]-oriented InGaAs/GaAs quantum well (QW) architecture by solving an eight-band k.p Hamiltonian using finite difference method including spin-orbit coupling. Euler's rotation technique is used to modify the wave vector and Hamiltonian matrix in conventional [100] crystal orientation. It is found that there is a substantial correlation between magnitude of strain and optical gain spectra. From the MATLAB simulation results, it can be settled that the energy band dispersion profile, momentum matrix and optical gain deviates exclusively with the increase of strain magnitude. The regular optical gains are inspected as 2700, 2810, 3080 and 3300 cm-1 when the well is compressively strained by 0.50, 0.90, 1.15 and 1.60% respectively at the carrier injection density of 2.5 × 1018 cm-3 which shows that highest optical gain and lowest effective mass are attained for 1.60% compressive strain.