Thermal loading effects on the electronic and the optical properties of CdTe/ZnTe quantum dots

We study the effects of thermal loading on the strain distributions, the electronic structure, and the optical properties of CdTe/ZnTe self-assembled quantum dots by using a finite-element method based on the linear elasticity theory of solids and the eight-band k · p Hamiltonian. Thermal expansion of a QD and its surrounding matrix is shown to significantly alter the magnitude of the strain distribution at high temperatures. The gain spectra are demonstrated to have different polarization distributions due to the structure of elements in the optical matrix. It can be concluded that the thermal loading effect has to be taken into account when analyzing the shapes of the optical gain polarizations at high temperatures.