DEFORMATION POTENTIALS IN NARROW-GAP QUANTUM-WELLS

The purpose of this review is to discuss the effect of strain on the e nergy levels of cubic semiconductors, namely, group IV semiconductors, II-VI and III-V compounds, and IV-VI semiconductors. As the effects o f strain on heterostructures based on the tetrahedrally coordinated ma terials are considered in several earlier reviews, we discuss them onl y briefly and pay more attention to the nontetrahedrally coordinated, rocksalt-structure IV-VI semiconductors. We discuss the effect of biax ial deformation on energy bands and stress the difference between the deformation potentials in quantum wells and bulk material. We show tha t such a difference does exist in the case of narrow-gap materials wit h the interband k-p interaction because of the pronounced effect of si ze quantization on energy levels in quantum wells made of the narrow-g ap materials.