Structure and optical properties of upper In(Ga)As quantum dots on a different seed layer with a thin GaAs spacer layer

The structure and optical properties of In(Ga)As grown with the introduction of InGaAlAs or InAlAs seed dots layers are investigated. The area density and size homogeneity of the upper InGaAs dots are efficiently improved with the introduction of a layer of high-density buried dots. When the GaAs spacer layer is too thin to cover the seed dots, the upper dots exhibit the characterization of a quantum well. By analyzing the growth dynamics, we refer to it as an empty-core structure dot. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Optical properties of NAEC-PMMA nonlinear polymeric thin film

Novel guest nonlinear optical (NLO) chromophore molecules (4-nitrobenzene)-3-azo-9-ethylcarbazole (NAEC) were doped in poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) host with a concentration of approximately 15% by weight. For a useful macroscopic electro-optic (EO) effect, these NLO molecules NAEC were arranged in a noncentrosymmetric structure in the host polymer by corona-onset poling at elevated temperature (COPET). For applying NAEC-PMMA polymer in optical devices such as EO switch, its optical properties have been investigated. The UV/Visible absorption spectra for the unpoled and poled polymer film were determined. The refractive index of the film was also determined from measurements of the coupling angles with the reflective intensity at 632.8 nm wavelength. Using the simple reflection technique, the EO coefficient 33 value was measured as 60 pm/V at 632.8 nm wavelength. The second-order nonlinear coefficient d(33) was characterized by the second-harmonic-generation (SHG) experimental setup and the calculated d(33) value reached 18.4 pm/V at 1064 nm wavelength. The relation between the second-order nonlinear coefficients d(33) and d(13) for the poled polymer film was also discussed in detail and the ratio d(33)/d(13) value was obtained as 3.3. (C) 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Side radical influence on the nonlinear optical properties and thermal stability of poled polymer films

Films of polyetherketone doped with the chromophores Disperse Red 1 (DR1) and Disperse Red 13 (DR13) were prepared by spin-coating method. By the in situ Second-harmonic Generation (SHG) signal intensity measurement, the optimal poling temperatures were obtained. For the investigated polyetherketone polymer doped with DR1 (DR1/PEK-c) and polyetherketone polymer doped with DR13 (DR13/PEK-c) films, the optimal poling temperatures were 150degreesC and 140degreesC, respectively. Under the optimal poling conditions, the high second-order nonlinear optical coefficient chi(33)((2)) = 11.02 pm/V has been obtained for the DR1/PEK-c; and for DR13/PEK-c at the same conditions the coefficient is 17.9 pm/V. The SHG signal intensity DR1/PEK-c could maintain more than 80% of its initial value when the temperature was under 100degreesC, and the SHG signal intensity of the DR13/PEK-c could maintain more than 80% of its initial value when the temperature was under 135degreesC. (C) 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Electronic structure and optical properties of quantum rods with wurtzite structure

The Hamiltonian of the wurtzite quantum rods with an ellipsoidal boundary is given after a coordinate transformation. The energies, wave functions, and transition possibilities are obtained as functions of the aspect ratio e with the same method we used on spherical dots. With an overall consideration of both the transition matrix element and the Boltzmann distribution we explained why the polarization factor increases with increasing e and approaches a saturation value, which tallies quite well with the experimental result. When e increases more and more S-z states are mixed into the ground, second, and third states of J(z)=1/2, resulting in an increase of the emission of z polarization. It is just the linear terms of the momentum operator in the hole Hamiltonian that cause the mixing of S and P states in the hole ground state. The effects of the crystal field splitting energy, temperature, and transverse radius to the polarization are also considered. We also calculated the band gap variation with the size and shape of the quantum rods.

Dependence of optical properties on the structure of multi-layer self-organized InAs quantum dots emitting near 1.3 mu m

Self-organized InAs quantum dots (QDs) have been fabricated by molecular beam epitaxy and characterized by photoluminescence (PL). For both single- and multi-layer QDs, PL intensity of the first excited state is larger than that of the ground state at 15 K. Conversely, at room temperature (RT), PL intensity of the first excited state is smaller than that of the ground state. This result is explained by the phonon bottleneck effect. To the ground state, the PL intensities of the multi-layer QDs are larger than that of the single-layer QDs at 15 K, while the intensities are smaller than that of the single-layer QDs at RT. This is due to the defects in the multi-layer QD samples acting as the nonradiative recombination centers. The inter-diffusion of Ga and In atoms in the growth process of multi-layer QDs results in the PL blueshift of the ground state and broadening of the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM), which can be avoided by decreasing the spacers' growth temperature. At the spacers' growth temperature of 520degreesC, we have prepared the 5-layer QDs which emit near 1.3 mum with a FWHM of 31.7 meV at RT, and 27.9 meV at 77 K. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

Effect of InAlAs/InGaAs cap layer on optical properties of self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots

We have investigated the effect of InAlAs/InGaAs cap layer on the optical properties of self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs). We find that the photoluminescence emission energy, linewidth and the energy separation between the ground and first excited states of InAs QDs depend on the In composition and the thickness of thin InAlAs cap layer. Furthermore, the large energy separation of 103 meV was obtained from InAs/GaAs QDs with emission at 1.35 pm at room temperature. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Structure and optical properties of self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots with In0.15Ga0.85As underlying layer

A high density of 1.02 x 10(11) cm(-2) of InAs islands with In(0.15)Gao(0.85)As underlying layer has been achieved on GaAs (10 0) substrate by solid source molecular beam epitaxy. Atomic force microscopy and PL spectra show the size evolution of InAs islands. A 1.3 mum photoluminescence (PL) from InAs islands with In(0.15)Gao(0.85)As underlying layer and InGaAs strain-reduced layer has been obtained. Our results provide important information for optimizing the epitaxial structures of 1.3 mum wavelength quantum dots devices. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect on the optical properties and surface morphology of cubic GaN grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition using isoelectronic indium surfactant doping

The surfactant effect of isoelectronic indium doping during metalorganic chemical vapor deposition growth of cubic GaN on GaAs (1 0 0) substrates was studied. Its influence on the optical properties and surface morphology was investigated by using room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) and atomic force microscopy. It is shown that the sample with small amount of In-doping has a narrower PL linewidth, and a smoother surface than undoped cubic GaN layers. A slight red shift of the near-band-edge emission peak was observed. These results revealed that, for small TMIn flow rates, indium played the role of the surfactant doping and effectively improved the cubic GaN film quality; for large TMIn flow rates, the alloying formation of Ga1-xInxN might have occurred. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of piezoelectricity and spontaneous polarization on electronic and optical properties of wurtzite III-V nitride quantum wells

A theoretical model accounting for the macropolarization effects in wurtzite III-V nitrides quantum wells (QWs) is presented. Energy dispersions and exciton binding energies are calculated within the framework of effective-mass theory and variational approach, respectively. Exciton-associated transitions (EATs) are studied in detail. An energy redshift as high as 450 meV is obtained in Al0.25GaN0.75/GaN QWs. Also, the abrupt reduction of optical momentum matrix elements is derived as a consequence of quantum-confined Stark effects. EAT energies are compared with recent photoluminescence (PL) experiments and numerical coherence is achieved. We propose that it is the EAT energy, instead of the conduction-valence-interband transition energy that is comparable with the PL energy. To restore the reduced transition rate, we apply an external electric field. Theoretical calculations show that with the presence of the external electric field the optical matrix elements for EAT increase 20 times. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.

Unusual temperature-dependent optical properties of self-organized InAs/GaAs quantum dots at high excitation power

The temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) properties of InAs/GaAs self-organized quantum dots (QDs) have been investigated at high excitation power. The fast redshift of the ground-state and the first excited-state PL energy with increasing temperature was observed. The temperature-dependent linewidth of the QD ground state with high carrier density is different from that with low carrier density. Furthermore, we observed an increasing PL intensity of the first excited state of QDs with respect to that of the ground state and demonstrate a local equilibrium distribution of carriers between the ground state and the first excited state for the QD ensemble at high temperature (T > 80 K). These results provide evidence for the slowdown of carrier relaxation from the first excited state to the ground state in InAs/GaAs quantum dots.

Optical properties of InGaAs quantum dots formed on InAlAs wetting layer

We have fabricated a new self-assembled quantum dot system where InGaAs dots are formed on InAlAs wetting layer and embedded in GaAs matrix. The low-temperature photoluminescence and atomic force microscopy measurements confirm the realization of the structure. In contrast to traditional InAs/Ga(Al)As quantum dots, the temperature dependence of the photoluminescence of the dots in such a structure exhibits an electronically decoupled feature due to a higher energy level of the wetting layer which keeps the dots more isolated from each other. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

Determination of the macroscopic optical properties for the NAEC/PEK-c guest-host polymer films

The polyetherketone (PEK-c) guest-host polymer films doped with (4'-nitro)-3-azo-9-ethyl-carbazole (NAEC) were prepared. The films were poled by corona-onset poling at elevated temperature (COPET). The orientational order parameter of the chromophores NAEC in poled polymer film was determined by measuring the absorption spectra of the films before and after being poled. By using the two-level model, the measured dispersion of the refractive index of the polymer film, and the dispersion of the first hyperpolarizability of chromophore NAEC, the dispersion of the macroscopic second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) and linear electrooptic (EO) coefficients was evaluated for the NAEC/PEK-c guest-host polymer film. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Structural anisotropy and optical properties of InxGa1-xAs quantum dots on GaAs(001)

InAs and InxGa1-xAs (x = 0.2 and 0.5) self-organized quantum dots (QDs) were fabricated on GaAs(0 0 1) by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), acid photoluminescence polarization spectrum (PLP). Both structural and optical properties of InxGa1-xAs QD layer are apparently different from those of InAs QD layer. AFM shows that InxGa1-xAs QDs tend to be aligned along the [1 (1) over bar 0] direction, while InAs QDs are distributed randomly. TEM demonstrates that there is strain modulation along [1 1 0] in the InxGa1-xAs QD layers. PLP shows that In0.5Ga0.5As islands present optical anisotropy along [1 1 0] and [1 (1) over bar 0] due to structural and strain field anisotropy for the islands. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Optical properties and band lineup in GaNxAs1-x/GaAs single quantum wells

The optical properties and the band lineup in GaNAs/GaAs single quantum wells (SQWs) grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) using photoluminescence (PL) technique were investigated. It was found that the low-temperature PL is dominated by the intrinsic localized exciton emission. By fitting the experimental datawith a simple calculation, band offset of the GaN0.015As0.985/GaAs heterostructure was estimated. Moreover, DeltaE(c), the discontinuity of the conduction band was found to be a nonlinear function of the nitrogen composition (chi) and the average variation of DeltaE(c) is about 0. 110eV per % N, such smaller than that reported on the literature to (0.156 similar to 0.175 eV/N %). In addition, Qc has little change whtn N composition increares, with an experimential relation of QC approximate tox(0.25). The band bowing coefficient (b) was also studied in this paper. The measured band bowing coefficient shows a strong function of chi, giving an experimental support to the theoretic calculation of Wei Su-Huai and Zunger Alex (1996).

Investigation on the nonlinear optical properties of the DCNP/PEK-c guest-host polymer films

The polyetherketone (PEK-c) guest-host polymer thin films doped with 3-(1,1-dicyanothenyl)-1-phenyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-pryazole (DCNP) were prepared. The polymer films were investigated with in situ second-harmonic generation (SHG) measurement. The corona poling temperature was optimized by the temperature dependence of the in situ SHG signal intensity under the poling electric field applying. The temporal and temperature stability of the second-order properties of the poled polymer film were measured by the in situ SHG signal intensity probing. The second-order NLO coefficient chi ((2))(33) = 32.65 pm/V at lambda = 1064 nm was determined by using the Makel fringe method after poling under the optimal poling condition. The dispersion of the NLO coefficient of the guest-host polymer system was determined by the measured value of chi ((2))(33) at 1064 nm and the two-level model.