Transfer matrix approach to the analysis of an arbitrary quantum well

structure in an electric field

D. C. Hutchings

Citation: Appl. Phys. Lett. 55, 1082 (1989); doi: 10.1063/1.101711

View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.101711
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Published by the American Institute of Physics.

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Transfer matrix approach to the analysis of an arbitrary quantum wen
structure in an electric field
D. C. Hutchings
Physics Department, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, EJI14 4A,':,~ United Kingdom

(Received 17 April 1989; accepted for publication 6 July 1989)

A new transfer matrix technique is presented for the exact analysis of quantum well structures
in an electric field using the exact Airy function form of the wave function. This method is
applied to an asymmetric-coupled quantum well structure and the electronic eigenfunctions
are generated.

Recent advances in semiconductor growth technology fl d 2

(E - ~ + q~ 1 z) l,b = 0,
,0
- - - --~ ¢ - (1)
have allowed semiconductor microstructures to be en- 2mj dr
gineered. In particular one-dimensional potential well struc-
where q = - e for electrons and + e for holes. E is the parti-
tures consisting of alternating ultrathin layers (of thickness
cle energy, ~ the potential, and mj the effective mass in the
on the scale of the de Broglie wavelength of an electron) of
jth layer. In a similar manner to Miller et al., 2 we transform
different composition or doping have been grown by tech-
to the dimensionless coordinate Zj;
niques such as molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) or metalor-
ganic chemical vapor depositon (MOCVD). The optical Zj = - [2m;lCe-/iW 1 )2] t/3(E - V, + q;:flz), (2)
and electronic responses of such microstructures can be tai- and Eg. (1) becomes
lored by varying the composition and thickness of the layers,
leading to the development of novel electronic and optoelec- d 2 ,I,(Z) _ Z1/;(Z) = O. (3)
tronic devices. I In particular, the confinement of electrons dz 2 'f'
and holes by potential barriers leads to novel effects under The solutions to this equation are
the application of an electric field perpendicular to the lay-
ers, such as the quantum-confined Stark effect. 2
1/1(Z) = a Ai(Z) + b Bi(Z), (4)
M
The zero-field problem is well known and the resulting where Ai(Z) and Bi(Z) are the Airy functions.
Schrodinger equation can be solved analytically for a single The matching conditions at each interface can now be
square well potential. 3 Essentially, one solves this problem applied, namely, continuity of if! and m j - Id¢/dz (this the
by expanding thc particle wavefunctions in terms of a set of correct form when the effective mass varies from layer to
basis functions (in this case exponential functions for a parti- layer'}) to obtain the following matrix relation:
cle energy E < ~ and sine and cosine functions for E> Vj ) I Ai(Z +) Bi(Z/) J))(a
and then applying the relevant boundary conditions which
include the continuity of the wave function and its first de-
~m- J
2/3 Ai: (Z J I ) m j- 2/3 Hi' (Z / ) \bj

rivative at each interface. Bi(Zj~l) )(aJ~I)

This method can easily be extended to any multiwell,
square potential as shown by Kolbas and Holonyak 4 The
continuity boundary conditions can be expressed in matrix
form and one thereby generates the unknown coefficients for
a particular layer from the known coefficients of the pre-
vious layer, i.e., the problem is solved using a transfer matrix
approach. Bound solutions are obtained for wave functions
which tend to zero at ± oc;.
For the finite field problem, however, no corresponding
analytic method has been developed. The variational meth-
od has been used for this problem5 •6 but it is not easy to
extend from single-wen potentials to an arbitrary square po-
tential or to states other than the ground state. Another ap-
proach which has been tried is to approximate the potential
due to the field Vftd = qc/ 1 z by a series of steps,? but this
method can prove extremely complex for multiwell struc-
tures and it is not clear if the behavior at ± 00 can be cor-
rectly accounted for. In this letter we develop a transfer ma-
trix approach to the finite field problem which uses the exact
solution to the wave function in each layer.
The Schrbdinger equation for the particle motion per-
pendicular to the layers in the presence of an electric field It'l
IS
m j -, 2(3 Bi' (Z j~ 1) bj+ I .
(5)
Here Z j' and Z j ~ I refer to the coordinate Z evaluated for
thejth and the U + l)th layers, respectively, at the bound-
ary between these layers.
In order to apply these transfer matrix relations it is
necessary to know the value of the coefficients (a,b) in one of
the bounding media and then the matrix relation [Eq. (5) J
can be applied to obtain all of the unknown coefficients. For
the condition q'f/1z-> - 00 (which will occur on the ex-
treme left or right of the structure depending on the signs of q
and W1; we will denote with the subscript J), the potential
rises to + 00 and hence the wave function must tend to zero
in this limit. Since this corresponds to the scaled coordinate
Zr'" + 00 for which Ai(Zf) ..... O and Bi(Zf) ..... 00, this then
determines br = O. We will not concern ourselves with nor-
malization, hence we are at liberty to set a r = 1. Thus, start-
ing from (af,bf ) = (1,0) all the unknown (a,b) coefficients
for each layer can be progressively calculated ending with
the coefficients for the initial medium (aj,b j ).
For the initial boundary medium q3' 1 z -> 00, and thus,
the particle is not bound. However transmission resonances

1082 Appl. Phys. Lett. 55 (11), 11 September 1989 0003-6951/89/371082-03$01.00 1082

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 o 5 10 15 20 25
Band
Position (nrn)

Valence
Band

Position (nrn)
FIG, 1. Schematic of energy bands for the example asymmetric-coupled
quantum well structure with an applied electric field,

e{o"\ 1//--- "'. "

ell ho \"
o _____,________.____':x~'-------~
can be obtained for these structures, By exammmg the
asymptotic form of the Airy functions for Z, 00, one -4 -

concludes the particle transmission is given by the quantity:
T = a}/ (a; + h 7) , (6 )
The maxima of this quantity with respect to particle energy
give the long-lived (quasi-bound) energy states which
would, for example, be relevant in the calculation of optical
transitions. The width of the peak can be used in Heisen-
berg's uncertainty principle to give a measure of the time for
the particle to tunnel out of the system. 3
In order to show this method of analysis in practice,
consider the asymmetric-coupled quantum well structure in
Fig, 1 consisting of 80 and 40 A GaAs wells separated by a 50
;;:- 200l
CD
··1 +---r--,---..,.---,...---,
o 5 10 15 20
Position (nm)
FreT. 3. Particle wave functions fi)r variow, values of applied electric field.
e,,, e I' and hI) refer to the clectron ground state, electron
ill'S! excited state,
and hole ground state, respectively. The applied electric field values are (a)
10 kV crn- I, (b) 59 kV em I, and (c) 80 kV em --, as indicated in Fig. 2.
A A10A GaO 6 As barrier. Very low power experimental opti-
cal nonlinearities have been reported for this structure. I () U s-
ing the method described above, the positions of the electron
transmission maxima were calculated and the results shown
in Fig. 2 are for the two lowest quasi-bound energy states.

-
E
>~ 1:::0
Oil
:;.,
Note that the usual energy-level noncrossing rule applies
here. The noncrossover is a result of the mixing of these two
states close to degcncracy.
.QJ
~
Using this method, not only can the transmission reson-
r.LI ances be obtained but all of the (a,b) coefficients are genera-
~ 100
o ted. Thus, the particle wave function can be plotted. Exam-
:;., ples are shown in Fig. 3 for the three particular field values
.....,
()
QJ indicated in Fig, 2. It can be seen that for low-field values,
e--<

"'" 00 the electron is predominantly in the wider weB, and at high-

()
0
l
~o 40
,6C
i
8e 100
field values in the narrower well. For this structure with
applied field values of about 60 k V cm E, significant por-
tions of the wave function exist in both wens indicating a
coupling of the single-well states.
Applied Eleclric Field (kVcrn
1
)
In conclusion, we have presented a new method for the
exact analysis of quantum wen structures in the presence of
an electric field. This method is a transfer-matrix calculation
FIG. 2. Electron energy at the particle transmission maxima asa function of
applied elccric field for the two lowest energy states. Energies arc measured of the particle transmission resonance, using the exact Airy
with respect to the bottom of the narrow wetl. function form instead of the more usual exponentials. This

1083 Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 55, No. 11,11 September 1989 D. C. Hutchings 1083

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method has the advantage of the flexibility in application to
multiwell problems and to states other than the ground state.
The method could also be extended to include graded well
structures. The particle wave functions can easily be ob-
tained because an the coefficients are produced as a by-prod-
uct so this method lends itself to such problems where the
particle wave functions are required as in, for example, a
calculation of the static polarization generated by the elec-
tron-hole distributions in the quantum well structure. For
multiwell structures the resulting wave functions give a clear
indication of the particle distribution near points of degener-
acy as shown in the example calculation.
Regular discussions with Professor Brian Wherett are
acknowledged. This work is supported by Royal Signals and
Radar Establishment, Great Malvern, U. K.
1084 Appl. Phys, Lett., Vol. 55, No. 11, 11 September 1969
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'Special issue on semiconductor quantum wells and supcrlattices: Physics
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D, C. Hutchings 1084