Abstract

Low-dimensional semiconductor nanostructures (LDSNs) are receiving increasing attention as key components of semiconductor lasers, semiconductor optical ampli¯ers, and other optoelectronic devices. Quantum dots (QDs) – LDS Ns in which the motion of electrons is con¯ned from all three spatial dimensions – can be used as biological tags in clinical research and DNA analysis, while the idea of using a spin con¯ned to a QD as a qubit promises imminent breakthrough in quantum information process- ing. Despite a wide range of current and potential applications, optoelectromechanical properties of QDs are still frequently analyzed with simpli¯ed mathematical models, incapable to account correctly for strain, piezoelectric coupling, and other important e®ects. In this talk I will provide a survey of the existing models for bandstructure calculations focusing on coupled and nonlinear e®ects and their incorporation in new models developed in our group for the analysis of properties of QDs. Several numerical examples will be given to illustrate the theory.