Quantum Confined Pockels Effect and Optical Polarized Spectroscopy of Interfaces in Type-II Heterostructures

We report on a strong enhancement of the Pockels effect in direct-gap type-II ZnSe/BeTe heterostructures. The effect has been found experimentally and analyzed theoretically. In quantum well structures with equivalent interfaces, say the Zn-Te and Te-Zn interfaces, the unbiased sample is optically isotropic in the plane perpendicular to the growth direction. In the presence of an electric field the electron and hole wave functions are pushed towards one of the interfaces and off from the other, as a result the balance is broken and the photoluminescence polarization becomes nonzero and reaches 70-80 in moderate electric fields. To desciibe the field-induced in-plane anisotropy in type-II heterostructures, a theoretical model has been developed which is based on the representation of optical matrix elements in the microscopical tight binding model.
Pres: 7th Int Symp Nanostructures: Physics and Technology, St Petersburg, Russia. 14-18 Jun 1999. p336-339. This article is from ADA407055 Nanostructures: Physics and Technology. 7th International Symposium. St. Petersburg, Russia, June 14-18, 1999 Proceedings