Giant Electro-optical Anisotropy in Type-II Heterostructures

Abstract

The quantum confined Pockels effect has been observed in type-II ZnSe/BeTe quantum well structures. In order to describe the in-plane optical anisotropy induced by the electric field in type-II heterostructures, a theoretical approach has been developed which is based on the representation of optical matrix elements in the microscopical tight-binding model. It is shown that polarized light spectroscopy allows one to obtain microscopic information on interfaces in heterostructures, especially on the orientation of chemical bonds.