A new approach to analyzing the spinor wave functions: Effect of strain on the electronic structure and optical transitions in bulk CdSe

An approach to analyzing the spinor wave functions that appear in the electronic structure calculations when taking the spin-orbit interaction into account is developed. It is based on the projection analysis of angular parts of wave functions onto irreducible representations of the point group and analysis of the evolution of the energy levels upon the adiabatic turning on the spin-orbit interaction. The technique is illustrated by an example of the changes in the valence band structure in strained bulk CdSe with zinc-blende structure. An analysis of the character of mixing of various branches of the valence band supports the Luttinger-Kohn model of the valence band. It is shown that the above calculations complemented by the Zeeman splitting in a magnetic field make it possible to unambiguously determine the polarization of all optical transitions. Using the spinor wave functions, matrix elements of optical transitions between the valence subbands and the conduction band are calculated.