Size dependence of biexciton binding energy in single InAs/GaAs quantum dots

This paper studies the size dependence of biexciton binding energy in single quantum dots (QDs) by using atomic force microscopy and micro-photoluminescence measurements. It finds that the biexciton binding energies in the QDs show "binding" and "antibinding" properties which correspond to the large and small sizes of QDs, respectively. The experimental results can be well interpreted by the biexciton potential curve, calculated from the exciton molecular model and the Heitler-London method.

Investigation of Electronic Energy Levels in InAs Quantum Dot with Shape of Lens by Using B-Spline Technique

The dependence of the electronic energy levels on the size of quantum dots (QDs) with the shape of spherical lens is studied by using the B-spline technique for the first time. Within the framework of the effective-mass theory, the values of electronic energy levels are obtained as a function of the height, radius and volume of QDs, respectively. When the height or radius of QDs increases, all the electronic energy levels lower, and the separations between the energy levels decrease. For lens-shape QDs, height is the key factor in dominating the energy levels comparing with the effect of radius, especially in dominating the ground-state level. These computational results are compared with that of other theoretical calculation ways. The B-spline technique is proved to be an effective way in calculating the electronic structure in QDs with the shape of spherical lens.

Size distributions of quantum islands on stepped substrates

The size distributions of self-assembled quantum islands on stepped substrates are studied using kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. It is found that the energy barrier E-SW between the step and the terrace region is the key factor in affecting the size distribution of islands. With small E-SW (<= 0.1 eV), lines of uniform islands can be obtained at relative low surface coverage. As the surface coverage is increased, wirelike islands can be obtained. Scaling behavior is obeyed for the size distributions of the wirelike islands. When the size distributions are separated into their width and length components, however, scaling is only observed in the length distribution of the wirelike islands. With larger E-SW, the size distribution of islands shows a clear bimodal size distribution and anomalous growth temperature dependent island size evolutions are observed. The simulation results reproduce qualitatively the phenomena observed in the cases of InAs islands grown on stepped GaAs substrates. (c) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3248367]

Quantum mechanical simulation of nanosized metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor using empirical pseudopotentials: A comparison for charge density occupation methods

The atomistic pseudopotential quantum mechanical calculations are used to study the transport in million atom nanosized metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors. In the charge self-consistent calculation, the quantum mechanical eigenstates of closed systems instead of scattering states of open systems are calculated. The question of how to use these eigenstates to simulate a nonequilibrium system, and how to calculate the electric currents, is addressed. Two methods to occupy the electron eigenstates to yield the charge density in a nonequilibrium condition are tested and compared. One is a partition method and another is a quasi-Fermi level method. Two methods are also used to evaluate the current: one uses the ballistic and tunneling current approximation, another uses the drift-diffusion method. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3248262]

Quantum-confined Stark effect and built-in dipole moment in self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots

Quantum-confined Stark effect and built-in dipole moment in self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs), which are grown at relative low temperature (460degreesC) and embedded in GaAs p-i-n structure, have been studied by dc-biased electroreflectance. Franz-Keldysh oscillations from the undoped GaAs layer are used to determine the electric field under various bias voltages. Stark shift of -34 meV for the ground-state interband transition of the QDs is observed when the electric field increases from 105 to 308 kV/cm. The separation of the electron and hole states in the growth direction of 0.4 nm, corresponding to the built-in dipole moment of 6.4x10(-29) C m, is determined. It is found that the electron state lies above that of the hole, which is the same as that predicted by theoretical calculations for ideal pyramidal InAs QDs. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Effect of the ratio of TMIn flow to group III flow on the properties of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells

Triple-axis x-ray diffraction (TXRD) and photoluminescence (PL) spectra are used to assess the influence of the ratio of TMIn flow to group III flow on structural defects, such as dislocations and interface roughness, and optical properties of multiple quantum wells(MQWs). In this paper the mean densities of edge and screw dislocations in InGaN/GaN MQWs are obtained by W scan of every satellite peak of (0002) symmetric and (1012) asymmetric diffractions. At the same time, the interface roughness is measured by the radio of the full width at half maximum of satellite peaks to the peak orders. The experimental results showed that the density of dislocation, especially of edge dislocation, and interface roughness increase with the increase of the ratio, which leads to the decrease of PL properties. It also can be concluded that the edge dislocation acts as nonradiative recombination centers in InGaN/GaN MQWs. Also noticed is that the variation of the ratio has more influence on edge dislocation than on screw dislocation.

Effect of In0.2Ga0.8As and In0.2Al0.8As combination layer on band offsets of InAs quantum dots

We demonstrate the self-organized InAs quantum dots capped with thin and In0.2Al0.8As and In0.2Ga0.8As combination layers with a large ground and first excited energy separation emission at 1.35 mum at room temperature. Deep level transient spectroscopy is used to obtain quantitative information on emission activation energies and capture barriers for electrons and holes. For this system, the emission activation energies are larger than those for InAs/GaAs quantum dots. With the properties of wide energy separation and deep emission activation energies, self-organized InAs quantum dots capped with In0.2Al0.8As and In0.2Ga0.8As combination layers are one of the promising epitaxial structures of 1.3 mum quantum dot devices. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Effect of trimethylgallium flow on the structural and optical properties of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells

InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) are grown by metal-organic chemical vapour deposition on (0001) sapphire substrates. Triple-axis X-ray diffraction (TXRD) and photoluminescence (PL) spectra are used to assess the influence of trimethylgallium (TMGa) flow on structural defects, such as dislocations and interface roughness, and the optical properties of the MQWs. In this paper, a method, involving an ! scan of every satellite peak of TXRD, is presented to measure the mean dislocation density of InGaN/GaN MQWs. The experimental results show that under certain conditions which keep the trimethlyindium flow constant, dislocation density and interface roughness decrease with the increase of TMGa flow, which will improve the PL properties. It can be concluded that dislocations, especially edge dislocations, act as nonradiative recombination centres in InGaN/GaN MQWs. Also noticed is that changing the TMGa flow has more influence on edge dislocations than screw dislocations.

Effect of the InAlAs and InGaAs combination strain-reducing layer on 1.3 mu m emission self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots

Self-assembled InAs quantum dots (QDs) with differing deposition thicknesses covered by InxAl1-xAs (x = 0.2, 0.3) and In0.2Ga0.8As combination strain-reducing layers (CSRLs) were grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Their structural and optical properties were investigated by atomic force microscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy, respectively. The emission peak position of InAs QDs capped by CSRL can reach 1.34 mum at room temperature with a relatively larger energy splitting of 93 meV between the ground and first excited states.

Effect of critical thickness on structural and optical properties of InxGa1-xN/GaN multiple quantum wells

InGaN/GaN multiquantum-well (MQW) structures grown by metalorganic chemical-vapor deposition on n-type GaN and capped by p-type GaN were investigated by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, double crystal x-ray diffraction, and temperature-dependent photoluminescence. For the sample with strained-layer thicknesses greater than the critical thicknesses, a high density of pure edge type threading dislocations generated from MQW layers and extended to the cap layer was observed. These dislocations result from a relaxation of the strained layers when their thicknesses are beyond the critical thicknesses. Because of indium outdiffusion from the well layers due to the anneal effect of Mg-doped cap layer growth and defects generated from strain relaxation, the PL emission peak was almost depressed by the broad yellow band with an intensity maximum at 2.28 eV. But for the sample with strained-layer thicknesses less than the critical thicknesses, it has no such phenomenon. The measured critical thicknesses are consistent with the calculated values using the model proposed by Fischer, Kuhne, and Richter. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Effect of SiO2 encapsulation on the nitrogen reorganization in a GaNAs/GaAs single quantum well

Effects of SiO2 encapsulation and rapid thermal annealing on the optical properties of a GaNAs/GaAs single quantum well (SQW) are studied by low-temperature photoluminescence (LTPL). After annealing at 800degreesC for 30s, a blueshift of the LTPL peak energy for the SiO2-capped region is 25meV and that for the bare region is 0.8meV. The results can attribute to the nitrogen reorganization in the GaNAs/GaAs SQW. It is also shown that the nitrogen reorganization can be obviously enhanced by SiO2 cap-layer. A simple model is used to describe the SiO2-enhanced blueshift of the LTPL peak energy. The estimated activation energy of the N atomic reorganization for the samples annealing with and without SiO2 cap-layer are 2.9eV and 3.1eV, respectively.

1.55-mu m ridge DFB laser integrated with a buried-ridge-stripe dual-core spot-size converter by quantum-well intermixing

A ridge distributed feedback laser monolithically integrated with a buried-ridge-stripe spot-size converter operating at 1.55 mu m was successfully fabricated by means of low-energy ion implantation quantum-well intermixing and dual-core technologies. The passive waveguide was optically combined with a laterally exponentially tapered active core to control the mode size. The devices emit in a single transverse and single longitudinal mode with a sidemode suppression ratio of 38.0 dB. The threshold current was 25 mA. The beam divergence angles in the horizontal and vertical directions were as small as 8.0 degrees x 12.6 degrees, respectively, resulting in 3.0-dB coupling loss with a cleaved single-mode optical fiber.

Effect of annealing on optical properties of InAs quantum dots grown by MOCVD on GaAs (100) vicinal substrates

Thermal annealing effect on InAs quantum dots grown on vicinal (100) GaAs substrates is studied in comparison with dots on exact (100) GaAs substrates. We find that annealing acts stronger effect on dots with vicinal substrates by greatly accelerating the degradation of material quality. as well as slightly increasing the blueshift of the emission wavelength and the narrowing of PL linewidth. It is attributed to the higher strain in the dots formed on the vicinal substrates.

Theoretical investigation of intersubband transition in AlxGa1-xN/GaN/AlyGa1-yN step quantum well

A modified self-consistent method is introduced for the design of AlxGa1-xN/GaN step quantum well (SQW) with the position and energy-dependent effective mass. The effects of nonparabolicity are included. It is shown that the nonparabolicity effect is minute for the lowest subband energy level and grows in size for the higher subband states. The effects of nonparabolicity have significant influence on the transition energies and the oscillator strengths and should be taken into account in the investigation of the optical transitions. The strong asymmetric property introduced by the step quantum well magnifies the weak intersubband transition from the ground state to the third state (1 -> 3). It is shown that in an appropriate scope, the intersubband transition (1 -> 3) has the comparable oscillator strength with transition from the ground state to the second one (1 -> 2), which suggests the possible application of the two-color photodetectors. The results of this work should provide useful guidance for the design of optically pumped asymmetric quantum well lasers and quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs). (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Singlet-triplet transition in quantum dots confined by triangular and bowl-like potentials: the effect of electric fields

We theoretically investigate the energy spectra of two-electron two-dimensional (2e 2D) quantum dots (QDs) confined by triangular potentials and bowl-like potentials in a magnetic field by exact diagonalization in the framework of effective mass theory. An in-plane electric field is,found to contribute to the singlet-triplet transition of the ground state of the 2e 2D QDs confined by triangular or bowl-like potentials in a perpendicular magnetic field. The stronger the in-plane electric field, the smaller the magnetic field for the total spin of the ground states in the dot systems to change from S = 0 to S = 1. However, the influence of an in-plane electric field on the singlet-triplet transition of the ground state of two electrons in a triangular QD modulated by a perpendicular magnetic field is quite small because the triangular potential just deviates from the harmonic potential well slightly. We End that the strength of the perpendicular magnetic field needed for the spin singlet-triplet transition of the ground state of the QD confined by a bowl-like potential is reduced drastically by applying an in-plane electric field.