Atomistic tight binding study of quantum confined Stark effect in GaBi$_x$As$_{1-x}$/GaAs quantum wells

Abstract

Recently, there has been tremendous research interest in novel bismide semiconductor materials (such as GaBi$_x$As$_{1-x}$) for wavelength-engineered, low-loss optoelectronic devices. We report a first study of the quantum confined Stark effect (QCSE) computed for GaBi$_x$As$_{1-x}$/GaAs quantum well (QW) structures based on large-scale atomistic tight-binding calculations. A comprehensive investigation of the QCSE as a function of the applied electric field orientations and the QW Bi fractions reveals unconventional character of the Stark shift at low Bi compositions ($x$=3.125\%). This atypical QCSE is attributed to a strong confinement of the ground-state hole wave functions due to the presence of Bi clusters. At technologically-relevant large Bi fractions ($\geq$ 10\%), the impact of Bi clustering on the electronic structure is found to be weak, leading to a quadratic Stark shift of the ground-state transition wavelength, similar to the previously observed Stark shift in other conventional III-V materials. Our results provide useful insights for the understanding of the electric field dependence of the electronic and optical properties of GaBi$_x$As$_{1-x}$/GaAs QWs, and will be important for the design of devices in the optoelectronics and spintronics areas of research.