Excitonic transitions in strained-layerInxGa1−xAs/InP quantum wells

A study of the excitonic transitions in pseudomorphic quantum wells of ${\mathrm{In}}_{\mathrm{x}}$ ${\mathrm{Ga}}_{1\mathrm{-}\mathrm{x}}$As grown intentionally non-lattice-matched on InP is presented. Photoluminescence and photocurrent excitation techniques were employed to monitor the optical transition energies. A model based on phenomenological deformation-potential theory, which includes nonlinear strain, band nonparabolicity, and strain-induced valence-band mixing terms, is used to calculate the optical transition energies. Good agreement with the experimental data over a wide range of strain is obtained for the first time.