Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/R92547/01
Title:	Theory of the electronic structure and optical properties of semiconductor quantum dots
Principal Investigator:	Andreev, Dr A
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Sch of Electronics & Physical Sciences
Organisation:	University of Surrey
Scheme:	Fast Stream
Starts:	01 March 2003	Ends:	28 February 2005	Value (£):	59,889
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Condensed Matter Physics
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Electronics
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Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
Relatively small insertions of one semiconductor material into another are usually called semiconductor quantum dots (ODs). They have definite shape, size and material composition. The carrier states in QDs are localised in all three spatial dimensions and therefore QDs are analogous to artifical atoms, whose properties can in principle be controlled and engineered. QD structures form the potential base for a new generation of optoelectronic devices. The main aim of this project is the development of the semiconductor OD theory. The question to be addressed is how CID shape, size and composition influence the electronic and optical properties of semiconductor CID structures. Variation of the QD shape and size may qualitatively change the electronic structure of the carrier states localised in the QD. This can significantly after the QD optical properties; for example, optical transitions may appear or vanish, the ground state transition energy may shift significantly and the carrier lifetime may change. Physical reasons for such changes are various for QDs based on different semiconductor compounds such as InAs-GaAs or AIGaN-GaInN systems. In particular, internal piezoelectric field mainly determines the optical properties of the wurtzite GaInN-based dots, but has smaller effect in cubic InGaAs-based dots. The material composition of the CID may be non-uniform, which adds more degrees of freedom determining the characteristics of QDs. Prediction and interpretation of the fundamental optical properties of different kinds of CID structures is a key problem of semiconductor theory to be studied during this project.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.surrey.ac.uk