Wave function engineering of antimonide quantum-well lasers
We present a variational approach to the calculation of band structure for semiconductor heterostructures. The time-independent action integral is minimized to derive a discretized version of the coupled Schrdinger equations within the multi-band envelope function approximation. This leads to a clear procedure for systematically improving the solutions. The numerical implementation of this method has provided the impetus towards the development of wave function engineering, which may be defined as the ability to specify the localization of carrier wave functions in quantum semiconductor nanostructures through control over the growth, geometry, and material composition. Recent developments in the design and successful implementation of type-II antimonide quantum-well lasers have been a direct consequence of the application of wave function engineering. Various aspects of the laser design for high temperature and high efficiency operation are considered, and a comparison of the theory with experimentally demonstrated devices is made.
wave function engineering quantum-well lasers semiconductor heterostructures finite element method