Abstract
The effect of thermally induced in-plane uniaxial strain on the optical properties of a GaAs/As multiple quantum well (MQW) has been studied in detail. The strain was produced by bonding the MQW thin films to , a transparent substrate which possesses a direction-dependent thermal expansion coefficient. At temperatures different from the bonding temperature we have observed an anisotropy in the optical properties of the MQW due to the strain-induced lowering of its in-plane fourfold rotation symmetry. The anisotropic absorption and birefringence for light incident normal to such a MQW structure have been determined and compared to a theory involving the mixing of the valence subbands.
- Received 26 February 1993
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.47.13933
©1993 American Physical Society