Shape and dielectric mismatch effects in semiconductor quantum dots

The combined effect of shape and dielectric mismatch between dot and matrix on several electronic properties of semiconductor quantum dots have been studied. In particular, the electronic properties of spherical and cubic quantum dots that have been analyzed are the integrated density of states, the polarization self-energy corrections to single-particle energies, the doping with impurities: excitonic Coulomb energies, and Coulomb blockade energies. It has been found that, in spite of the highly nonhomogeneous polarized charge density induced at the boundaries of the cubic quantum dot, the electronic properties are essentially independent on the dot shape for all the range of dielectric mismatch. [S0163-1829(99)00119-8].