Birefringence in quantum wells of heterostructures In0.68Al0.1Ga0.13As/In0.42Al0.22Ga0.24As/InP

• The light wave birefringence is observed in quantum wells (QW) In0.68Al0.1Ga0.13As/In0.42Al0.22Ga0.24As.
• The anisotropy of optical functions of QW structure was revealed.
• The interference in the QW layers indicates the presence of isotropic wavelength at 1.246 μm.
• The effective masses of heavy and light holes were estimated.

The polarization dependences of reflection and wavelength modulated reflection spectra of quantum wells In0.68Al0.1Ga0.13As/In0.42Al0.22Ga0.24As were investigated. Spectral dependences of refractive indices, extinction coefficients, real and imaginary parts of dielectric constants of quantum wells structures for different polarizations were calculated by the Kramers–Kronig analysis. A phenomenon of birefringence and an interference of polarized light waves in quantum wells were researched. The isotropic wavelength λ0 = 1.246 μm was found out. Interference spectra changes the density of fringes and refractive indices (Δni, ΔnKK = nР,Р–nS,S) intersect zero axis at energy of isotropic wavelength (0.955 eV).