Dynamics of electron capture into quantum wires

Abstract
We report direct measurements of carrier trapping from three-dimensional states into spatially confined one-dimensional states in GaAs quantum wires. In spite of the small wire volume, very fast trapping (≤10 ps) is observed in V-groove wires. Theoretical calculations of trapping via optical-phonon emission, based on an accurate band-structure determination, shows that this arises because of strong overlap of initial extended and final confined electron states.