The electron states in a two-dimensional GaAs/AlGaAs quantum ring are theoretically studied in effective mass approximation. On-centre donor impurity and uniform magnetic field perpendicular to the ring plane are taken into account. The energy spectrum with different angular momentum changes dramatically with the geometry of the ring. The donor impurity reduces the energies with an almost fixed value; however, the magnetic field alters energies in a more complex way. For example, energy levels under magnetic field will cross each other when increasing the inner radius and outer radius of the ring, leading to the fact that the arrangement of energy levels is distinct in certain geometry of the ring. Moreover, energy levels with negative angular momentum exhibit the non-monotonous dependence on the increasing magnetic field.

This paper presents a finite element calculation for the electronic structure and strain distribution of self-organized InAs/GaAs quantum rings. The strain distribution calculations are based on the continuum elastic theory. An ideal three-dimensional circular quantum ring model is adopted in this work. The electron and heavy-hole energy levels of the InAs/GaAs quantum rings are calculated by solving the three-dimensional effective mass Schrödinger equation including the deformation potential and piezoelectric potential up to the second order induced by the strain. The calculated results show the importance of strain and piezoelectric effects, and these effects should be taken into consideration in analysis of the optoelectronic characteristics of strain quantum rings.

Depositions of Si, Ge and C atoms onto a preliminary Si (001) substrate at different temperatures are investigated by using the molecular dynamics method. The mechanism of atomic self-assembling occurring locally on the flat terraces between steps is suggested. Diffusion and arrangement patterns of adatoms at different temperatures are observed. At 900 K, the deposited atoms are more likely to form dimers in the perpendicular [110] direction due to the more favourable movement along the perpendicular [110] direction. C adatoms are more likely to break or reconstruct the dimers on the substrate surface and have larger diffusion distances than Ge and Si adatoms. Exchange between C adatoms and substrate atoms are obvious and the epitaxial thickness is small. Total potential energies of adatoms and substrate atoms involved in the simulation cell are computed. When a newly arrived adatom reaches the stable position, the potential energy of the system will decrease and the curves turns into a ladder-like shape. It is found that C adatoms can lead to more reduction of the system energy and the potential energy of the system will increase as temperature increases.

Piezoelectric effects and electronic structures of InAs/GaAs quantum dots grown along (111) and (011) directions are investigated in this paper. The finite element method is used. Electronic energy levels are calculated by solving the three-dimensional effective mass Schrödinger equation including a strain modified confinement potential and piezoelectric effects. The difference in electronic structure between quantum dots grown along the (111) direction and the (011) direction are compared. The cubic and truncated pyramidal shaped quantum dots are adopted.