Abstract

In a piezoelectric material, strain gives rise to internally generated polarization fields. These electric fields can have profound effects on the optical properties of the material. In a lattice mismatched quantum well or superlattice system, pseudomorphic growth gives rise to strain in the layers. We calculated the lattice mismatch strain generated electric fields in CdTe/CdMnTe quantum wells and ZnTe/ZnMnTe quantum wells. We then calculated the nonlinear susceptibilities χ² and χ³ in the presence of these fields, which show strong enhancements at certain frequencies. We have also calculated the effect of the strain generated electric fields on tunneling of the carriers between quantum wells. This affects the optical absorption probability.

© 1988 Optical Society of America