Modeling of electroabsorption in semiconductor quantum structures within the eight-bandk⋅ptheory

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Abstract
We have incorporated electric fields into the eight-band k⋅p theory, which we have applied to heterostructures, in conjunction with the envelope-function approximation. We use the method of Baraff and Gershoni to implement the electric-field effects in a computer program that calculates the optical properties of direct-band-gap heterostructures in one, two, and three dimensions. Using this method, we calculate the interband and intersubband electroabsorption of multiple quantum wells as well as the interband electroabsorption in superlattices. We illustrate the evolution of the Stark localization of the electron wave function under the application of an external electric field in superlattices. Comparison with experimental data, available in the literature, exhibits very good agreement between theory and experiment, with respect to the spectral shape, the absolute magnitude, and the electric-field dependence of the absorption.