Chapter 8 Electronic and Optical Properties of III–V Nitride based Quantum Wells and Superlattices

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the electronic and optical properties of III–V nitride-based quantum wells and superlattices. Wide bandgap III–V nitrides—such as GaN, AlN, InN—and their alloys exhibit considerable hardness, high thermal conductivity, large bandgap energies, and both conduction and valence band offsets for carrier confinement. Consequently, III–V nitrides are attractive for potential optoelectronic device applications in the blue–green or near ultraviolet spectrum and for high power and high temperature microelectronic devices. The ability to grow alternating thin layers of slightly dissimilar semiconductors, with each individual layer maintaining its crystallinity, results in a modulated conduction band profile along the growth direction. The chapter also emphasizes several discrepancies concerning the determination of some important parameters for the relevant bulk material, such as hole masses, bandgap energy bowing parameters, shear and deformation potentials, and band offsets, which are necessary for determining and understanding laser performance, such as gain and transparency, as well as the performance of electronic devices.

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