Electron probabilities in GaAs quantum well

A quantum heterostructure is a

heterostructure A heterojunction is an interface between two layers or regions of dissimilar semiconductors. These semiconducting materials have unequal band gaps as opposed to a homojunction. It is often advantageous to engineer the electronic energy bands in m ...

in a substrate (usually a

semiconductor material A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical conductivity value falling between that of a conductor, such as copper, and an insulator, such as glass. Its resistivity falls as its temperature rises; metals behave in the opposite way. ...

), where size restricts the movements of the charge carriers forcing them into a quantum confinement. This leads to the formation of a set of discrete energy levels at which the carriers can exist. Quantum heterostructures have sharper

density of states In solid state physics and condensed matter physics, the density of states (DOS) of a system describes the number of modes per unit frequency range. The density of states is defined as D(E) = N(E)/V , where N(E)\delta E is the number of states i ...

than structures of more conventional sizes. Quantum heterostructures are important for fabrication of short-wavelength

light-emitting diode A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (co ...

s and

diode laser The laser diode chip removed and placed on the eye of a needle for scale A laser diode (LD, also injection laser diode or ILD, or diode laser) is a semiconductor device similar to a light-emitting diode in which a diode pumped directly with e ...

s, and for other

optoelectronic Optoelectronics (or optronics) is the study and application of electronic devices and systems that find, detect and control light, usually considered a sub-field of photonics. In this context, ''light'' often includes invisible forms of radiat ...

applications, e.g. high-efficiency

photovoltaic cell A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon.

s. Examples of quantum heterostructures confining the carriers in quasi-two, -one and -zero dimensions are: *

Quantum well A quantum well is a potential well with only discrete energy values. The classic model used to demonstrate a quantum well is to confine particles, which were initially free to move in three dimensions, to two dimensions, by forcing them to occupy ...

s *

Quantum wire In mesoscopic physics, a quantum wire is an electrically conducting wire in which quantum effects influence the transport properties. Usually such effects appear in the dimension of nanometers, so they are also referred to as nanowires. Quantum e ...

s * Quantum dots

References

See also