Hidden In-Plane Anisotropy of Interfaces in Zn(Mn)Se <span class="aps-inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>/</mi></math></span>BeTe Quantum Wells with a Type-II Band Alignment

D. R. Yakovlev; A. V. Platonov; E. L. Ivchenko; V. P. Kochereshko; C. Sas; W. Ossau; L. Hansen; A. Waag; G. Landwehr; L. W. Molenkamp

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.257401

Hidden In-Plane Anisotropy of Interfaces in Zn(Mn)Se $/$ BeTe Quantum Wells with a Type-II Band Alignment

D. R. Yakovlev, A. V. Platonov, E. L. Ivchenko, V. P. Kochereshko, C. Sas, W. Ossau, L. Hansen, A. Waag, G. Landwehr, and L. W. Molenkamp

Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 257401 – Published 6 June 2002

Abstract

Circularly and linearly polarized radiation due to spatially indirect optical transitions is studied in semimagnetic (Zn,Mn)Se/BeTe and nonmagnetic ZnSe/BeTe quantum-well structures with a type-II band alignment. Because of the giant in-plane anisotropy of the optical matrix elements related to a particular interface, complete spin orientation of photocarriers induced by magnetic fields leads not to purely circular but instead to elliptical polarization of the luminescence. From comparison between theory and experiment the parameter of optical anisotropy of a ZnSe/BeTe interface is evaluated. The developed theoretical approach can be applied for the large class of nanostructures revealing optical anisotropy.

Received 17 October 2001

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.257401

Authors & Affiliations

D. R. Yakovlev^1,2,*, A. V. Platonov^1,2, E. L. Ivchenko², V. P. Kochereshko², C. Sas¹, W. Ossau¹, L. Hansen¹, A. Waag³, G. Landwehr¹, and L. W. Molenkamp¹

¹Physikalisches Institut der Universität Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
²A. F. Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 194021 St. Petersburg, Russia
³Abteilung Halbleiterphysik, Universität Ulm, 89081 Ulm, Germany