Theory of photoluminescence in quantum wells in the presence of transverse electric field: Monte Carlo approach

The Monte Carlo approach is used to study the quasibound electron and hole ground-state levels in a quantum well in the presence of a transverse electric field. A criteria is developed to ensure that the ground state is a true quasibound state. These techniques are applied to an Al0.3Ga0.7As/GaAs quantum well subjected to a high electric field perpendicular to the interfaces. Results on the electron and hole tunneling rates and their dependence on band-edge discontinuities are presented. The variation of the ground-state emission energy with the electric field is also presented.