Influence of thin AlAs layer insertion on intersubband optical transitions in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum- well structures

In this work, we demonstrate the thin AlAs layer insertion into GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well (QW) structures and its influence in energy transition in the frequency range of mid-infrared. To realize the more accurate calculation, the graded interface model of QW structures is integrated into our self-consistent solving of Schrodinger and Poisson equations to obtain the energy level and envelope wave functions of QW. We find the thin AlAs layer inserted at various positions in the well can obviously tune intersubband optical transitions. The corresponding tuning range can be 50 meV. We find that the thicker AlAs layer (2 monolayers) can provide wider tuning range and larger oscillator strength between subbands 1 and 3, compared with the thinner one (1 monolayer). Our results suggest that thin semiconductor layer may be an idea optimization design for the quantum well terahertz lasers which are based on optical pumping with mid-infrared lasers.