Absorption and Emission of Light in III–V Semiconductors

Previous chapters discussed the crystal structure and bandstructure of III–V semiconductors. This chapter shifts to the book’s second major topic: electronic interactions with light. It introduces the main ideas about how light waves propagate in semiconductor crystals and induce absorption, spontaneous emission, and stimulated emission in bulk semiconductors. It also considers the differences between the electronic interactions with light in zinc-blende and wurtzite crystals and what happens as the energy gap of the semiconductor is reduced to zero or when the crystal is two-dimensional.