A comparison of the electronic properties of thin-period (InAs)(GaAs) and (InAs)(AlAs) superlattices with compositionally similar random alloys

A comparison is made between the electronic properties of the (InAs) (GaAs) and (InAs) (AlAs) superlattices with their compositionally similar random alloys. While the long range order in the superlattice can dramatically reduce the effect of alloy scattering on both transport and excitonic linewidth, the electronic properties of the thin period superlattice are similar to the alloy with major differences occurring only in the hole states. Since the band-edge lineup at strained heterointerfaces is largely unknown, we present the dependence of the bandgap, the electron and hole effective masses and the separation between the heavy and light hole bands at the center of the Brillouin zone with respect to the band-edge lineup. Our calculations show that thin period strained superlattices using these systems could have excellent potential for high-speed devices.