The effect of a strong magnetic field on the binding energy and the photoionization process in quantum-well wires

Within the effective-mass approximation, we have investigated the influence of a strong magnetic field on the ground state binding energy and the photon energy dependence of the photoionization cross-section of a shallow donor impurity in a quasi-one-dimensional rectangular quantum wire with infinite and finite potential barriers, using a variational approach. It is found that the binding energy and the photoionization cross-section as a function of photon energy were drastically dependent on the sizes of the wire, the potential well heights and the applied magnetic field. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.