Study of exciton-longitudinal optical phonon coupling in quantum wells foroptoelectronic applications

The study of exciton-longitudinal optical (LO) phonon coupling in semicondu ctor quantum well (QW) structures and their corresponding bulk materials re veals four distinct features: a large difference between (i) III-V and II-V I QW structures, (ii) multiple QW and single QW structures, as well as (iii ) QW structures and their corresponding bulk materials, and its linear depe ndence on well width in QW structures. A quantitatively theoretical approac h is presented, which can explain well all the experimental observations an d can clarify the controversy in the literature. The effects of alloy disor der and strain in QW structures on exciton-LO phonon coupling are also disc ussed. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.