Electronic structure and optical properties of serpentine superlattice quantum-wire arrays.

The subband structure and band-to-band optical matrix elements are computed for serpentine superlattice quantum-wire arrays. The subband dispersion and bandwidths are examined as a function of the curvature of the confining barriers and of the barrier height separating the wires. The optical matrix elements show a strong polarization dependence, even when the coupling between wires in the array is sufticiently strong that the states are not quasi-one-dimensional.