Novel material properties of strained-layer superlattices

Strained-layer superlattices (SLS’s) are high quality structures grown from lattice-mismatched semiconductor materials. Recent Sandia studies have demonstrated that a variety of SLS material properties can be tailored through the flexible choice of layer materials and thicknesses and through the use of quantum size effects, zone folding effects, and strain effects. The use of strained layers in SLS’s allows these structures to exhibit a number of novel features. Examples of these features include: independently variable band gap and lattice constant using mismatched ternaries; strain-induced band gap shifts; and strain-modified effective masses. These features provide the opportunity for a variety of fundamental and applied materials studies using SLS systems.