THE PHYSICS OF LOW-DIMENSIONAL SEMICONDUCTORS AN INTRODUCTION JOHN H. DAWIES Glasgow University [8-35 CAMBRIDGE a Universtiy PressPUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRII The Pitt Building. Trumpington Street. Cambridge CB2 1RP. United Kingdom CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS The Edinburgh Building. Cambridge CB2 2RU. United Kingdom 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA. 10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia © Cambridge University Press 1998 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 1998 Printed in the United States of America ‘Typeset in Times Roman Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Davies, J. H. (John H.) The physics of low-dimensional semiconductors : an introduction / John H. Dav. cm. P. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-521-48148-1 (he). — ISBN 0-521-48491-X (pbk.) 1, Low-dimensional semiconductors. L Title. QC611.8.L68039 1997 537.6°221-de21 97-88 cIP A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0 52] 48148 hardback ISBN 0 521 48491 X paperbackPREFACE Tjoined the Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineeting at Glasgow Uni- versity some ten years ago. My research was performed in a group working on advanced semiconducting devices for both electronic and optical applications. It soon became apparent that advances in physics and technology had left a gap be- hind them in the education of postgraduate students. These students came from a wide range of backgrounds, both in physics and engineering; some had received extensive instruction in quantum mechanics and solid state physics, whereas others had only the smattering of semiconductor physics needed to explain the operation of classical transistors. Their projects were equally diverse, ranging from quantum dots and electro-optic modulators to Bloch oscillators and ultrafast field-effect tran- sisturs. Sume excellent reviews were available, bul most started at a Jevel beyond many of the students. The same was truc of the proceedings of several summer schools. I therefore initiated a lecture course with John Barker on nanoelectronics that instantly attracted an enthusiastic audience. The course was given for several years and evolved into this book. It. was difficult to keep the length of the lecture course manageable, and a book faces the same problem. The applications of heterostructures and low-dimensional semiconductors continue to grow steadily, in both physics and engineering. Should one display the myriad ways in which the properties of heterostructures can be harnessed, or concentrate on their physical foundations? There seemed to be a broad gap in the literature, between a textbook on quantum mechanics and solid state physics illustrated with semiconductors, and an analysis of the devices that can be made. | have aimed towards the textbook, a fortunate decision as there are now some excellent books describing the applications. The experience of teaching at a couple of summer schools also convinced me that a more introductory treatment would be useful, one that concentrated on the basic physics. This book addresses that need. Acknowledgements Several colleagues contributed to the course out of which this book developed. John Barker, Andrew Long, and Clivia Sotomayor-Torres shared the lecturing at various times and helped to shape the syllabus. Several students and postdoctoral researchxiv PREFA assistants encouraged me to continue the course and learn some topics that w: new to me. I would particularly like to thank Andrew Jennings, Michael and Fran Laughton, Alistair Meney, and John Nixon. It is also a pleasure to thank Andr Long and my wife for their helpful comments on the manuscript. Many colleagues have kindly provided data that I have been allowed to repio! a convenient way to illustrate the text. ] am very grateful for their help, particula to those who generously supplied unpublished measurements and calculations, ¢ to Mike Burt, who also gave advice on effective-mass theory. It has taken a long time to complete this book. I don’t imagine that I am the f author who has sadly underestimated the effort required to turn a pile of lecture no into a coherent manuscript. Most of the work has been done in evenings, betwt reading bedtime stories to my daughters and feeling exhaustion setting in. As m parents with young children will appreciate, this interval is short and frequently m existent, Tam very grateful to my family for their forbearance and encourageme I would also like to thank the publishers for their tolerance, as they might well hi despaired of ever receiving a finished manuscript. The final proofreading was carr out at the Center for Quantized Electronic Structures (QUEST) in the University California at Santa Barbara. It is a pleasure to acknowledge their hospitality as v as the financial support of QUEST and the Leverhulme Trust during this period 1 would like to finish with a quotation from the preface by F. Reif to his bo Fundamentals of statistical and thermal physics. It must reflect many authors’ ings as their books approach publication. It has been said that ‘an author never finishes a book, he merely abandons it’. I have come to appreciate vividly the truth of this statement and dread to see the day when, looking at the manuscript in print, [am sure to realize that so many things could have been done better and explained more clearly. If labandon the book nevertheless, it is in the modest hope that it may be useful to others despite its shortcomings. John Da Milngavie, September I:INTRODUCTION Low-dimensional systems have revolutionized semiconductor physics. They rely on the technology of heterostructures, where the composition of a semiconductor ean. be changed on the scale of a nanometre, For example, a sandwich of GaAs between nwo layers of AlyGaj_,As acts like an elementary quantum well. The energy levels are widely separated if the well is narrow, and all electrons may be trapped in the lowest level. Motion parallel to the layers is not affected, however, so the electrons remain free in those directions. The result is a two-dimensional electron gas. and holes can be trapped in the same way. Optical measurements provide direct evidence for the low-dimensional behaviour of electrons and holes in a quantum well. The density of states changes from a smooth parabola in three dimensions to a staircase in a two-dimensional system. This is scen clearly in optical absorption, and the step at the bottom of the density of states enhances the optical properties. This is put to practical use in quantum-well lasers, whose threshold current is lower than that of a three-dimensional device. Further assistance from technology is needed to harness low-dimensional systems for transport, Electrons and holes must be introduced by doping. but the carriers leave charged impur ies behind, which limit theit mean fiee path. The solution w this problem is modulation doping, where carriers are removed in space from the impurities that have provided them, This has raised the mean {ree path of electrons in a two-dimensional electron gas to around 0.1 mm at low temperature. It is now possible to fabricate structures inside which electrons are coherent and must be treated as waves rather than particles. Observations of interference attest to the success of this approach. Again, there are practical applications such as field-effect transistors in direct-broadcast satellite receivers. As these examples show, complicated technology underpins experiments on low- dimensional systems. In contrast, it turns out that most of the physics can be under- stood with relatively straightforward concepts. ‘The aim of this book ts to explain the physics that underlies the behaviour of most low-dimensional systems in semicon- ductors, considering both transport and optical properties. The methods described. such as perturbation theory, are standard but have immediate application — the quantum-confined Stark effect, for example, is both a straightforward illustration of perturbation theory and the basis of a practical electro-optic modulator. Lhe most