Electron and hole states in a quantum ring grown by droplet epitaxy: Influence of the layer inside the ring opening

The electronic structure of the conduction and valence bands of a quantum ring containing a layer inside the ring opening is modeled. This structure (nanocup) consists of a GaAs nanodisk (the cup’s bottom) and a GaAs nanoring (the cup’s rim) which encircles the disk. The whole system is embedded in an (Al,Ga)As matrix, and its shape resembles realistic ring structures grown by the droplet epitaxy technique. The conduction-band states in the structure are modeled by the single-band effective-mass theory, while the 4-band Luttinger–Kohn model is adopted to compute the valence-band states. We analyze how the electronic structure of the nanocup evolves from the one of a quantum ring when the size of either the nanodisk or the nanoring is changed. For that purpose, (1) the width of the ring, (2) the disk radius, and (3) the disk height are separately varied. For dimensions typical for experimentally realized structures, we find that the electron wavefunctions are mainly localized inside the ring, even when the thickness of the inner layer is 90% of the ring thickness. These calculations indicate that topological phenomena, like the excitonic Aharonov–Bohm effect, are negligibly affected by the presence of the layer inside the ring.