Calculation of electron effective masses in AlAs

The ab initio pseudopotential method based on the local density approximation is employed to calculate the band structure and the electron effective masses in AlAs. The expected camel's back structure at the X point of the conduction band is not found in the present calculation, in agreement with previous ab initio local density approximation calculation. The transverse and longitudinal electron effective masses are found to be mt = 0.268m0 and m1 = 1.14m0, respectively. The calculated effective masses are in reasonable agreement with the majority of the previously determined values.