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With the optics features of nextnano++, the optical absorption spectrum can be calculated for various polarization directions.
The absorption rate in a semiconductor can be written as
\[ R_{ba} = \frac{2}{V} \sum_{k_a} \sum_{k_b} \frac{2 \pi}{ \hbar} |H_{ba}| ^2 \delta(E_b - E_a -\hbar \omega)(1-f_a) \cdot f_b \]
Where the $|H_{ba}|$ depends on the polarization and the $k$ vector.
The transition matrix element $H_{ab}(k)$ is plotted in the function of $\vec{k}$ for a 1D structure in figure 1