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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Phonon dispersion in GaN/AlN non‐polar quantum wells: confinement and anisotropy

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We have calculated the phonon dispersion relations in a non-polar GaN/AlN quantum well within the dielectric continuum model and making use of Loudon's model of uniaxial crystals. Due to the strong in-plane anisotropy of this orientation, we have found that in general ordinary and extraordinary phonons are not decoupled. In this work we analyze the conditions for the occurrence of interface modes. In these novel heterostructures there is an added dependence of the phonon dispersion on the orientation of the in-plane phonon wavevector, which allows the existence of interface phonons at energies forbidden in the better known polar structures. Under particular circumstances the vibrations excited in the wurtzite heterostructure have the characteristics of those found in cubic crystals. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)