Optical absorption measurement of GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

Abstract

Two-dimensional electron-hole systems formed in semiconductor quantum wells are of interest from both practical and scientific considerations. The reduction of the dimension leads to increased exciton interaction, the formation of confined energy states, and a modification of the density of states. This in turn yields new physical phenomena, some of which found applications in semiconductor diode lasers as well as field effect transistors. The features of two-dimensional electron-hole systems are no more markedly seen than in the absorption spectrum. In this study we look at the transmission spectrum of a GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well to determine the well widths as well as to probe the various interband and excitonic transitions resulting from the confinement of electrons and holes in a region less than their corresponding de Broglie wavelengths.