Electronic transitions in semiconductor quantum wells and epilayers under pressure

Abstract

We review the effects of hydrostatic pressure on the confined transitions in quantum well heterostructures, using lattice matched GaAs/Al_xGa_1-x As, strained layer narrow band gap GaSb/AlSb and In_XGa_1-xAs/GaAs, and strained layer wide gap Zn_1-xCd_xSe/ZnSe as examples. We address the problem of shear in lattice mismatched structures by examining a pseudomorphic epilayer, ZnSe/GaAs, where we tune the lattice mismatch with pressure in a configuration where the effects of quantum confinement are absent.