Modeling of stresses and electric fields in piezoelectric multilayer: Application to multi quantum wells

Exact closed-form expressions have been derived for the stresses and the electric fields induced in piezoelectric multilayers deposited on a substrate with lattice misfit and thermal expansion coefficient mismatch. The derived formulations can model any number of layers using recursive relations that minimize the computation time. A proper rotation matrix has been utilized to generalize the expressions so that they can be used for various growth orientations with each layer having hexagonal crystal symmetry. As an example, the influence of lattice misfit and thermal expansion coefficient mismatch on the state of electroelastic fields in different layers of GaN multi quantum wells has been examined. A comparison with the finite element analysis results showed very close agreement. The analytical expressions developed herein will be useful in designing optoelectronic devices as well as in predicting defect density in multi quantum wells.