Stark effect in finite-barrier quantum wells, wires, and dots

The properties of confined carriers in low-dimensional nanostructures can be controlled by external electric fields and an important manifestation is the Stark shift of quantized energy levels. Here, a unifying analytic theory for the Stark effect in arbitrary dimensional nanostructures is presented. The crucial role of finite potential barriers is stressed, in particular, for three-dimensional confinement. Applying the theory to CdSe quantum dots, finite barriers are shown to improve significantly the agreement with experiments. (paper)