Electronic structure of beryllium acceptors confined in GaAs/Al_xGa_1-xAs quantum wells

A detailed experimental investigation is presented of beryllium acceptors confined in GaAs/Al_xGa_1-xAs quantum well structures in the presence of an applied magnetic field. A number of features related to the transitions between the acceptor ground and excited states are reported: (1) the satellites corresponding to the 1S-2S acceptor transition involving the different components [j=3/2(Γ₈) and j=5/2(Γ_7,8)] of the acceptor bound exciton (BE), where the labels of the exciton states are according to j-j coupling theory (or the cubic crystal-field scheme); (2) the detailed splitting of the 1S₃/2(Γ₆)-2S₃/2(Γ₆) acceptor transition involving the lowest acceptor BE state j=5/2(Γ_7,8); and (3) a component of the 1S-2P acceptor transition. In addition to this, the magnetic field dependence of these transitions is investigated experimentally, and the results are compared with theoretical predictions based on existing theory.