PHY475: OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF SOLIDS

Assessed Homework 3
Answer ALL questions. Marked out of 20. Worth 5%. Due Wednesday 2/12/15
1. GaAs and InAs are direct gap semiconductors with band gaps of 1.42 eV and 0.42 eV
respectively. Estimate the emission wavelength of an LED made from the alloy Ga0.2In0.8As,
stating the assumptions that you make.
[2 marks]
2. A light-emitting diode emitting at 870 nm has GaAs in the active region.
(a) Calculate the critical angle in the GaAs crystal (refractive index = 3.5), and hence
calculate the maximum possible fraction of light that can emitted in the forward direction.
(Assume that the chip has a planar structure and that the light is emitted equally over all
possible directions within the active region.)
(b) Calculate the maximum possible power output in the forward direction when the radiative
quantum efficiency is 80% and the drive current is 200 mA.
[4 marks]
3. Ga0.47In0.53As (Eg = 0.81 eV, me* = 0.041me, mhh* = 0.47me, mlh* = 0.05me) is a direct gap
alloy semiconductor which is lattice-matched to InP. Sketch the absorption spectrum you
would expect to observe if excitonic effects are negligible for a 20 nm Ga0.47In0.53As /InP
quantum well in the spectral region 0.8 1.0 eV, on the assumption that the band gap of InP
is very much larger than that of Ga0.47In0.53As. In order to obtain full marks, you will need to
specify the energies of all the thresholds for the transitions in this energy range, and also
include a quantitative discussion of the relative strength of the heavy and light hole
transitions. Discuss qualitatively how you would you expect the spectrum to change when:
(a) excitonic effects are included;
(b) the finite height of the barrier is considered.
[5 marks]
4 Estimate the width of the quantum well in:
(a) A GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well laser emitting at 780 nm;
(b) A GaAs/AlGaAs intersubband quantum well laser operating on the electron 21
transition and emitting at 10.6 m.
For GaAs you may take Eg = 1.42 eV, me* = 0.067me, mhh* = 0.5me. Assume that the band
gap of AlGaAs is much larger than that of GaAs.
[3 marks]
5. A crystal of GaAs with rough edges is excited by an ultrashort laser pulse at time t = 0. The
laser pulse injects 1 1024 m3 electrons and holes into the conduction and valence bands
respectively. The band gap of GaAs is 1.519 eV, and the effective masses of the electrons and
heavy holes are 0.067 me and 0.5 me respectively. The light-hole band and excitonic effects
are negligible.
(a) Calculate the Fermi energies of the electrons and holes at t = 0, on the assumption that the
temperature T = 0
(b) Sketch the emission spectrum that you would expect to observe just after the crystal has
been excited by the laser, indentifying the minimum and maximum energies over which
emission occurs. How would the emission spectrum change with time ?
[4 marks]
6. A crystal of bulk GaAs is excited with circularly polarized light.
(a) Show that the maximum degree of electron spin polarization that can be generated is 50%.
(b) Discuss how the electron spin polarization would change as the excitation wavelength is
changed.
[2 marks]