Modeling of purely strain-induced CEO GaAs/In/sub 0.16/Al/sub 0.84/As quantum wires

We theoretically studied strained quantum wire structures that were grown using the cleaved edge overgrowth technique. Calculations of the strain distribution and wave functions are presented as a tool for optimizing the sample layout in order to enhance confinement energies. The electron and hole wave functions are spatially separated due to the piezoelectric effect. Our numerical simulations show that the confinement energy rises as expected with the thickness of the stressor layer and the width of the overgrown quantum well in agreement with spatially resolved photoluminescence measurements.