Electronic and optical properties of semiconductors: A study based on the empirical tight binding model
This study is a theoretical investigation of the electronic and optical properties of intrinsic semiconductors using the orthogonal empirical tight binding model. An analysis of the bulk properties of semiconductors with the zincblende, diamond and rocksalt structures has been carried out. The author has extended the work of others to higher order in the interaction integrals and derived new parameter sets for certain semiconductors which better fit the experimental data over the Brillouin zone. The Hamiltonian of the heterostructures is built up layer by layer from the parameters of the bulk constituents. The second part of this work examines a number of applications of the theory. A new microscopic derivation of the intervalley deformation potentials is presented within the tight binding representation and computes a number of conduction-band deformation potentials of bulk semiconductors. The author has also studied the electronic states in heterostructures and have shown theoretically the possibility of having barrier localization of above-barrier states in a multivalley heterostructure using a multiband calculation. Another result is the proposal for a new [open quotes]type-II[close quotes] lasing mechanism in short-period GaAs/AlAs super-lattices. As for the author's work on the optical properties, a new formalism, based on the generalized Feynman-Hellmann theorem, for computing interband optical matrix elements has been obtained and has been used to compute the linear and second-order nonlinear optical properties of a number of bulk semiconductors and semiconductor heterostructures. In agreement with the one-band effective-mass calculations of other groups, the more elaborate calculations show that the intersubband oscillator strengths of quantum wells can be greatly enhanced over the bulk interband values.
- Research Organization:
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute, MA (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 7102735
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Thesis (Ph.D.)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
BAND THEORY
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
HETEROJUNCTIONS
THEORETICAL DATA
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MATERIALS
NUMERICAL DATA
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
SEMICONDUCTOR JUNCTIONS
360606* - Other Materials- Physical Properties- (1992-)
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