We investigate the absorption spectrum and strength of ${\mathrm{Ga}}_{1-y}{\mathrm{In}}_y{\mathrm{As}}_{1-x}{\mathrm{N}}_x$ quantum wires. We show that compounds with varying fractions of indium and nitrogen but similar band gaps have different absorption patterns. This behavior is related to the interplay between different effects such as strain, which mainly affects the band offsets, and the increased electron mass in dilute nitride III-V semiconductors. We also study how the influence of these parameters changes by varying the optical band gap. Our model calculations are performed in the parabolic band approximation and include excitonic effects.

• Received 31 October 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.73.155310