UNIVERSAL CONDUCTION-BAND STRUCTURE IN SOME COMMON SEMICONDUCTOR COMPOUNDS

The conduction bands of direct-gap III-V semiconductors are shown to be effectively universal near the point even when strongly nonparabolic, for energies in effective rydbergs and wave numbers in inverse effective lattice constants. This implies universality of the diamagnetic Shubnikovde Haas effect in the nonparabolic regime in some two-dimensional electron gases, as observed experimentally. A two-band kp approximation together with Harrisons model-solid theory explains this near universality and relates its systematic deviations to the covalency of the material in question. © 1990 The American Physical Society.