Interband Optical Transitions in Extremely Anisotropic Semiconductors. I. Bound and Unbound Exciton Absorption

Abstract

By using the effective-mass theory for exciton, the allowed and forbidden direct interband transitions in extremely anisotropic semiconductors are discussed. In this case, the problem is reduced to solving the Schrödinger equation for a hypothetical two-dimensional hydrogen atom. The bound and unbound solutions of the equation are obtained, and the absorption intensities in the discrete, quasi-continuous, and continuous spectral regions are calculated. It is shown that, in the allowed transitions, a small peak may appear just above the absorption edge because of the Coulomb interaction between an excited electron and a hole. This result is compared with the experimental curves of the absorption in layer-type semiconductors, CaS, GaSe, and GaTe.