UC Santa Barbara

An analysis is presented on the effect of the strain field originating from a subsurface stressor (point source of dilatation or a dilatating ellipsoidal inclusion) on the electronic properties of nitride semiconductors. With good accuracy, real quantum dots can be modeled as such stressors. We consider the following material structure design: a uniform semi-infinite GaN matrix with a buried stressor or a GaN matrix with a single (In,Ga)N quantum well, which is grown pseuodomorphically between the stressor and the free surface. We utilize isotropic elasticity to determine the strain field in the structures under investigation. We then apply a k.p perturbation theory approach to examine the shifts of the conduction and valence band edges caused by the stressor. We find lateral confinement for electrons and holes, which can be proposed for the realization of strain-induced quantum dots in the quantum well. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics.