Photoluminescence of recombination processes from two-dimensional electron states to three-dimensional hole states in narrow-gap semiconductor quantum wells

Recently electron quantum wells were created in the p-type narrow-gap semiconductors by ${\mathrm{Ar}}^{+}$ ion bombardment. These structures are p-i-n-i-p type. Using the Kane model, we have calculated two-dimensional electron density of states, electron Fermi energy as a function of electron concentration in the quantum well, and photoluminescence transition energy from two-dimensional electron states to three-dimensional hole states. We compare the theoretical calculations to the experimental results in the absence and presence of a magnetic field. Qualitative but not quantitative agreement is obtained between theory and experiment for optical transition at 210 meV. The present theoretical calculations also uncover transitions in infrared and far-infrared regions of the photoluminescence spectra for the p-i-n-i-p narrow-gap semiconductor quantum well.