The effect of magnetic field on free and bound exciton luminescence in GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well structures: a quantitative study on the estimation of ultra-low disorder

The influence of ultra-low defects and atomic irregularities at the hetero-junction on the optical properties of free and bound excitons are investigated by the magneto photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Magneto PL spectra of GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum wells (MQWs) are recorded in Faraday and Voigt configuration to understand the kinetics of excitons under the different extents of quantum confinement. Magnetic field induced suppression of the asymmetry in the PL line-shape is identified as the reduced effect of disorder due to the in-plane confinement of exciton. Such effects are distinctly observed in Faraday configuration compared to the Voigt configuration. It is due to the strong magnetic field dependent dimensionality confinement of the excitons, which is illustrated by comparing the diamagnetic/Landau energy for the two configurations via experimental and theoretical results. A simple model, based on the suppression of bound exciton PL with the magnetic field, is proposed to estimate the density of disorder in the GaAs/AlGaAs MQW system, which is found to be 2×1015 cm−3 for the QWs. Additionally, the magnetic field driven re-distribution of charge carrier at the Landau levels and its effect on the free exciton luminescence is investigated. Thus, the magneto-PL spectroscopy in this study is found to be an excellent tool for the quantitative estimation of ultra-low disorder and QW parameters governing the optical properties of excitons, which shall be highly useful in the development of advanced optoelectronic devices.