Superlattice band structure in the envelope-function approximation

Abstract

The band structure of GaAs-GaAlAs and InAs-GaSb superlattices is calculated by matching propagating or evanescent envelope functions at the boundary of consecutive layers. For GaAs-GaAlAs materials, the envelope functions are the solutions of an effective Hamiltonian in which both band edges and effective masses are position dependent. The effective-mass jumps modify the boundary conditions which are imposed to the eigenstates of the effective-mass Hamiltonian. In InAs-GaSb superlattices, the dispersion relations, although quite similar to those obtained in GaAs-GaAlAs materials, reflect the genuine symmetry mismatch of InAs (electrons) and GaSb (light-holes) levels. The evolution of the InAs-GaSb band structure with increasing periodicity is calculated and found to be in excellent agreement with previous LCAO results. The dispersion relations of heavy-hole bands are obtained.