Exciton and biexciton binding and vertical Stark effect in a model lens-shaped quantum box: Application to InAs/InP quantum dots

The problem of excitonic and biexcitonic binding is studied in the system of parabolic coordinates for a lens-shaped quantum box. The exciton wavefunction is expanded in terms of electron-hole configurations made from electron and hole single-particle states. Configuration interaction method and perturbative calculations are used to study the competition between confinement and correlation effects. Biexcitonic binding energy is calculated in the strong confinement regime and a comparison to the case of a spherical box is made. Absorption spectra with and without correlation effects are computed for InAs/InP quantum dots. Excitonic binding energy and enhancement factor are estimated to be equal to about 20 meV and 1.5, respectively. The excitonic absorption is finally studied in the presence of a uniform vertical electric field. A weak vertical Stark effect is predicted for lens-shaped quantum box described within this model.