Advances in epitaxial growth and nanofabrication technology in the past several years have made it possible to engineer sophisticated semiconductor quantum devices with unprecedented control of their electronic and optical properties. A particularly important class of such devices is based on intersubband transitions, i.e. optical transitions between quantized electronic states in semiconductor heterostructures. Most notably, mid-infrared quantum-well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs) and quantum cascade lasers nowadays offer superior performance for applications such as thermal imaging, spectroscopy, and biochemical sensing, and have recently become commercially available. Intersubband devices also have the potential for a revolutionary impact in the fields of silicon photonics, terahertz sensing, and ultra-high-bandwidth fiber-optic communications, and extensive research is ongoing to fulfill this promise. Joined by an international group of world experts, Paiella describes the basic device physics and applications of intersubband transitions, as well as the more recent and important developments in this exciting area of semiconductor nanotechnology.

Investigates and outlines the experimental technique of intersubband transitions as a solution. Covers topics such as: intersubband emission in silicon-based quantum structure, quantum dot infrared photodetectors, antimonide, quantum cascade lasers for the 3-5m atmospheric window and more.

Intersubband Transitions in Quantum Wells: Physics and Device Applications II

This book takes the reader from the very basics of III-V semiconductors (some preparation in quantum mechanics and electromagnetism is helpful) and shows how seemingly obscure results such as detailed forms of the Hamiltonian, optical transition strengths, and recombination mechanisms follow.

Intersubband transitions in quantum wells have attracted tremendous attention in recent years, mainly due to the promise of applications in the mid and far-infrared regions (2--20 mum). Many of the papers presented in Quantum Well Intersubband Transition Physics and Devices are on the basic linear intersubband transition processes, detector physics and detector application, reflecting the current state of understanding and detector applications, where highly uniform, large focal plane arrays have been demonstrated. Other areas are still in their early stages, including infrared modulation, harmonic generation and emission.

In this book, expert authors describe advanced solar photon conversion approaches that promise highly efficient photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical cells with sophisticated architectures on the one hand, and plastic photovoltaic coatings that are inexpensive enough to be disposable on the other. Their leitmotifs include light-induced exciton generation, junction architectures that lead to efficient exciton dissociation, and charge collection by percolation through mesoscale phases. Photocatalysis is closely related to photoelectrochemistry, and the fundamentals of both disciplines are covered in this volume.

Quantum Wells, Wires and Dots Second Edition: Theoretical andComputational Physics of Semiconductor Nanostructures providesall the essential information, both theoretical and computational,for complete beginners to develop an understanding of how theelectronic, optical and transport properties of quantum wells,wires and dots are calculated. Readers are lead through a series ofsimple theoretical and computational examples giving solidfoundations from which they will gain the confidence to initiatetheoretical investigations or explanations of their own. Emphasis on combining the analysis and interpretation ofexperimental data with the development of theoretical ideas Complementary to the more standard texts Aimed at the physics community at large, rather than just thelow-dimensional semiconductor expert The text present solutions for a large number of realsituations Presented in a lucid style with easy to follow steps related toaccompanying illustrative examples