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CdTe/MnTe/CdMgTe quantum-well structures with one or two monolayers of MnTe inserted at CdTe/CdMgTe interfaces were fabricated. The spectra of the excitonic luminescence from CdTe quantum wells and their variation with temperature indicate that introduction of ultrathin MnTe layers improves the interface quality. The effect of a magnetic field in the Faraday configuration on the spectral position of the exciton-emission peaks indicates that frustration of magnetic moments in one-monolayer MnTe insertions is weaker than in two-monolayer insertions. The effect of a magnetic field on the exciton localization can be explained in terms of the exciton wave-function shrinkage and obstruction of the photoexcited charge-carrier motion in the quantum well.

We present the results of optical, steady-state and time-resolved studies of photoluminescence and photoluminescence excitation in high-quality Al 0.3 Ga 0.7 As/GaAs quantum wells in which the presence of large (larger than the exciton radius) atomically flat islands can be inferred, identical to the case of interrupted MBE growth. Migration of excitons towards lower-lying energy states induced by local potential fluctuations and/or progressive localisation has been revealed and the transition rate between quantum well regions 24 to 25 monolayers thick has been derived to be 290 ps −1 .

The results of photoluminescence, time-resolved photoluminescence, photoluminescence excitation and photoluminescence kinetics studies are presented for a Al0.3 Ga0.7Αs/GaΑs quantum well system grown without growth interruptions at the interfaces. The time-resolved photoluminescence measurements show drift of excitons towards lower energy states induced in a quantum well by potential fluctuations. We present also a first direct evidence for migration of free excitons from the 24 to 25 ML regions of the quantum well and interpret these results within a linear rate model, deriving the transition rate of 290 ps-1. Such inter-island migration processes have been observed till now only in growth interrupted structures. PACS numbers: 78.66.Fd, 78.47.+ρ, 73.20.Jc

Optical properties of wurtzite AlGaN/GaN quantum well (QW) structures grown by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) and metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on c-plane sapphire substrates have been investigated by means of photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) at low temperature. The PL spectra exhibit a blue-shifted emission of GaN/AlGaN QW nanostructures by decreasing the barrier width, in contrast to the arsenide system (Pabla A S et al 1993 Appl. Phys. Lett. 63 752). This behavior is attributed to a redistribution across the samples of the huge built-in electric field (several hundreds of kV cm−1) induced by the polarization difference between wells and barriers. The trend of the barrier width dependence of the internal polarization field is reproduced by using simple electrostatic arguments. In addition, the effect of well width variation on the optical transition and decay time of GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) have been investigated, and it has been shown that the screening of the piezoelectric field and the electron–hole separation are strongly dependent on the well thickness and have a profound effect on the optical properties of the GaN/AlGaN MQWs. The time-resolved PL spectra of 3 nm well MQWs reveal that the spectral peak position shifts toward lower energies as the decay time increases and becomes red-shifted at longer decay times.