Phys Chem Chem Phys
February 2017
A nanoscale study of combined strain/size effects has been performed using monochromated valence electron energy-loss spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) calculations to locally explore the valence and conduction bands of a strained 2 nm GaN quantum well inserted between two fully relaxed AlN thick layers. Two main electronic transitions from the valence to the conduction band were experimentally detected and interpreted. The first transition was shown to be a collective oscillation (or plasmon), which was significantly blue-shifted in energy mainly due to the widening of the valence-band top-part.
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