Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2025

DOI

10.1063/5.0300193

Publication Title

Journal of Applied Physics

Volume

138

Issue

23

Pages

234902

Abstract

In this study, we systematically design and simulate a series of GaAs-based superlattice configurations aimed at enhancing heavy-hole–light-hole band splitting while simultaneously optimizing band alignment to reduce the conduction band barrier, thereby facilitating efficient electron transport. These combined effects are crucial for achieving high electron spin polarization and high quantum efficiency, the two key performance metrics of next-generation spin-polarized electron sources. We investigated three types of superlattice architectures: (1) compressively strained GaAs wells on GaInP barriers, yielding a maximum band splitting of 140 meV, (2) lattice-matched GaAs/GaInP structures, resulting in the maximum band splitting of 75 meV, and (3) tensile strained GaAs wells on GaInP barriers, with a maximum band splitting of 40 meV. The results demonstrate the tunability of heavy-hole–light-hole band splitting and establish a design framework for high-performance spin-polarized photocathodes based on a combination of strain engineering, quantum confinement, and optimized heterostructure design.

Rights

© 2025 Authors. All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License.

Data Availability

Article states: "The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request."

Original Publication Citation

Kachwala, A., Blume, G., Marsillac, S., Grames, J., & Grau, M. (2025). Modeling strain and quantum confinement in GaAs/GaxIn1-xP superlattices for spin-polarized electron sources. Journal of Applied Physics, 138(23), 1-9, Article 234902. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0300193 

ORCID

0000-0003-4223-2259 (Blume), 0000-0003-0826-8119 (Marsillac), 0000-0002-2684-6923 (Grau)

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