Energy band structures of strained membrane quantum wires considering the redistribution of elastic strain relaxation

Energy band structure of GaInAsP/InP compressively strained membrane quantum wires is theoretically studied using 8 band k.p method. Redistribution of elastic strain relaxation due to etching away of lower and upper InP clad layers in membrane quantum wires is considered in the calculation. It is found that strain redistribution increases the effective bandgap of membrane quantum wire structures causing a blue shift of the emission frequency. Comparison with effective bandgap calculation using a bulk-like approach neglecting confinement and bandmixing demonstrates that neglect of these effects leads to an over-estimation of the change in the bandgap.