Electronic states and optical transitions in semiconductor heterostructures

This book provides the theoretical basis and experimental knowledge underlying our understanding of the electronic and optical properties of semiconductor heterostructures. Although such structures have been known since the 1940s, it was only in the 1980s that they moved to the forefront of research, largely due to technological developments that made it possible to grow ultrathin layers of different materials - down to a few atoms in thickness - on top of various semiconductor substrates. The resulting structures have remarkable properties not shared by bulk materials. One can, for example, confine the motions of electrons to a single layer, making it possible to investigate effectively two-dimensional systems. One can also build periodic materials by alternating layers of different compositions, thereby modulating the electronic and optical properties of the resulting structure. Intended for graduate students, physicists, and engineers beginning research on semiconductor heterostructures or interested in their applications, the treatment presumes some knowledge of quantum mechanics and solid state physics.