Wannier-Mott exciton ($a_B^{\ast },R^{\ast }$)

A Wannier-Mott exciton has an internal wave function extending over many unit cells. Its simplest model assumes a three-dimensional bulk crystal, approximately parabolic valence band and conduction band, positive isotropic scalar effective masses $m_e^{\ast },m_h^{\ast }$, a constant scalar relative permittivity ${ϵ}_r$, and a dilute pair population. Replace microscopic crystal forces by those effective masses and dielectric screening, and neglect exchange corrections and coupling to phonons. These assumptions must hold on the spatial and energy scales of the particular exciton.

With relative coordinate $\mathbf{r}={\mathbf{r}}_e-{\mathbf{r}}_h$, the internal Hamiltonian operator is the three-dimensional hydrogen atom problem with a reduced mass and a screened Coulomb potential:Here $e$ is the elementary charge, ${ϵ}_0$ the vacuum permittivity, and $\hslash$ the reduced Planck constant. The internal energy eigenvalues, radius scale, and exciton binding energies areThe principal quantum number is $n=1,2,\dots$. This reduction and these scales are derived in Excitons in Semiconductor Quantum Dots by Matjaž Humar (§3, printed pp. 5–6, equations (13)–(26)).

To check the scales by dimensional analysis, write $C=e^2/(4\pi {ϵ}_0{ϵ}_r)$, which has units of energy times length. Then $a_B^{\ast }={\hslash }^2/(\mu C)$ is a length and $R^{\ast }=\mu C^2/(2{\hslash }^2)$ is an energy. Rescaling $r=a_B^{\ast }\rho$ makes $H_{\mathrm{rel}}/R^{\ast }=-{\nabla }_{\rho }^2-2/\rho$, the dimensionless hydrogen atom operator. The Bohr radius $a_B^{\ast }$ is a wave function scale, not the radius of a classical orbit; for this model's lowest internal bound state, the mean separation is $3a_B^{\ast }/2$.

For the diagrams' hypothetical inputs $m_e^{\ast }=0.10m_0$, $m_h^{\ast }=0.40m_0$, ${ϵ}_r=10$ and $E_g=1.500\mathrm{eV}$, where $m_0$ is the free Electron mass, independent substitution gives $\mu =0.080m_0$, $a_B^{\ast }\simeq 6.615\mathrm{nm}$ and $R^{\ast }\simeq 10.885\mathrm{meV}$. Here electronvolts express energy. The exciton binding energies for $n=1,2,3$ are approximately $10.885$, $2.721$ and $1.209\mathrm{meV}$. These are model calculations, not measured material parameters. The large-radius approximation additionally requires $a_B^{\ast }$ to be much larger than the crystal's unit cell length scale. In a thin layer, with anisotropic effective masses, or with spatially varying dielectric screening, this three-dimensional formula is not generally valid.

The dimensionless ratio of a medium's permittivity to vacuum permittivity. The constant scalar value used in a Wannier-Mott exciton is an approximation to the relevant material response.

Modification of the interaction between electric charges by a medium's electrical response. In the simplest Wannier-Mott exciton model, the Coulomb potential is reduced by a constant relative permittivity; actual screening can depend on spatial and temporal scales.