SUBBAND STRUCTURES OF SEMICONDUCTOR QUANTUM WIRES FROM THE EFFECTIVE BOND-ORBITAL MODEL

The effective bond-orbital model is used to calculate the subband structures of GaAs/AlGaAs and InGaAs/InP quantum wires of various geometries. The advantages of the effective bond-orbital model over standard effective-mass theory are its flexibility to accommodate otherwise awkward geometries, the straightforward manner in which boundaries between materials are treated, and the inclusion in the Hamiltonian of terms in k higher than quadratic. We focus our attention on the subband structures of epitaxially buried Ga 0.47In0.53As/InP quantum wires of triangular cross section with axis in the [011] direction and (111), (11̄1̄), and (100) faces.