Abstract

Quantum wires and quantum dots are 2- and 3-D analogs of the conventional quantum well. A quantum dot, for example, would confine an electron in three dimensions to a size comparable to the de Broglie wavelength of the electron in the crystal. To be used in devices such as laser diodes, arrays of quantum wires and quantum dots must be considered. In such arrays quantum dots and wires composed of a low bandgap material would be embedded in a higher bandgap host (e.g., GaAs dots in an AlGaAs host).

© 1990 Optical Society of America