Why the effective-mass approximation works so well for nano-structures

Abstract

The reason why the effective-mass approximation, derived for wave packets constructed from infinite-periodic-systems' wave functions, works so well with nanoscopic structures, has been an enigma and a challenge for theorists. To explain and clarify this issue, we re-derive the effective-mass approximation in the framework of the theory of finite periodic systems, i.e., using energy eigenvalues and fast-varying eigenfunctions, obtained with analytical methods where the finiteness of the number of primitive cells per layer, in the direction of growth, is a prerequisite and an essential condition. This derivation justifies and explains why the effective-mass approximation works so well for nano-structures. We show also with explicit optical-response calculations that the rapidly varying eigenfunctions $\Phi_{\epsilon_0,\eta_0}(z)$ of the one-band wave functions $\Psi^{\epsilon_0,\eta_0}_{\mu,\nu}(z)= \Psi^{\epsilon_0}_{\mu,\nu}(z) \Phi_{\epsilon_0,\eta_0}(z)$, can be safely dropped out for the calculation of inter-band transition matrix elements.