Silicon-on-insulator based 2 x 2 multimode interference coupler with large tolerance

We demonstrate a type of 2 x 2 multimode interference 3 dB coupler based on silicon-on-insulator. The fabrication tolerance was investigated by the effective index method and the guide mode method. The devices with different lengths were fabricated and near-held output images were obtained. Tolerances to width, length and etch depth are 2, 200 and 2 mum, respectively. The devices show a uniform power distribution.

Photoluminescence and microstructure of the Erbium-Doped hydrogenated amorphous SiOx(0 < x < 2)

The hydrogenated amorphous SiOx films (a-SiOx:H) with various oxygen contents have been prepared using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique. The films were implanted with erbium and annealed by rapid thermal annealing. An intense photoluminescence (PL) of Er at 1.54 mum has been observed at 77 K and at room temperature. The PL intensity depends strongly on both the oxygen content of the film and the rapid thermal annealing temperature and reaches its maximum if the ratio of O/Si in the film is approximately equal to 1.0 at 77 K and to 1.76 at room temperature. The microstructure of the film also has strong influences on the PL intensity. The PL intensity at 250 K is slightly more than a half of that at 15 K. It means that the temperature quenching effect of the PL intensity is very weak.

Study of self-assembled InAs quantum dot structure covered by InxGa1-xAs(0 <= x <= 0.3) capping layer

InAs self-assembled quantum dots(QDs) covered by 3-nm-thick InxGa1-xAs(0 less than or equal tox less than or equal to0.3) capping layer have been grown on GaAs(100) substrate. Transmission electron microscopy shows that InGaAs layer reduces the strain in the InAs islands,and atomic force microscopy evidences the deposition of InGaAs on the top of InAs islands when x = 0.3.The significant redshift of the photoluminescence (PL) peak energy and the reduction of PL linewidth of InAs quantum dots covered by InGaAs are observed. In addition,InGaAs overgrowth layer suppresses the temperature sensitivity of PL peak energy. Based on our analysis, the strain-reduction and the size distribution of the InAs QDs are the main cause of the redshift and temperature insensitivity of the PL respectively.

Design, simulation and testing of large area silicon drift detectors and detector array for X-ray spectroscopy

Large area (25 mm(2)) silicon drift detectors and detector arrays (5x5) have been designed, simulated, and fabricated for X-ray spectroscopy. On the anode side, the hexagonal drift detector was designed with self-biasing spiral cathode rings (p(+)) of fixed resistance between rings and with a grounded guard anode to separate surface current from the anode current. Two designs have been used for the P-side: symmetric self-biasing spiral cathode rings (p(+)) and a uniform backside p(+) implant. Only 3 to 5 electrodes are needed to bias the detector plus an anode for signal collection. With graded electrical potential, a sub-nanoamper anode current, and a very small anode capacitance, an initial FWHM of 1.3 keV, without optimization of all parameters, has been obtained for 5.9 keV Fe-55 X-ray at RT using a uniform backside detector.

Fabrication of 2 x 2 tapered multimode interference coupler

The authors demonstrate a 3dB 2 x 2 parabolically tapered multimode interference (MMT) coupler with a large cross-section and space between the different ports using silicon-on-insulator technology. The device exhibits a uniformity of < 0.8dB and can be used in the realisation of an MMI-based optical switch with a high extinction ratio.

Influence of InxGa1-xAs (0 <= x <= 0.3) cap layer on structural and optical properties of self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots

Optical and structural properties of self-organized InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) with InxGa1-xAs or GaAs cover layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) have been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The TEM and AFM images show that the surface stress of the InAs QDs was suppressed by overgrowth of a InxGa1-xAs covering layer on the top of the QDs and the uniformity of the QDs preserved. PL measurements reveal that red shifts of the PL emission due to the reduction of the surface strain of the InAs islands was observed and the temperature sensitivity of the PL emission energy was suppressed by overgrowth of InxGa1-xAs layers compared to that by overgrowth of GaAs layers.

X-ray diffraction and optical characterization of interdiffusion in self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum-dot superlattices

We report on the characterization of thermally induced interdiffusion in InAs/GaAs quantum-dot superlattices with high-resolution x-ray diffraction and photoluminescence techniques. The dynamical theory is employed to simulate the measured x-ray diffraction rocking curves of the InAs/GaAs quantum-dot superlattices annealed at different temperatures. Excellent agreement between the experimental curves and the simulations is achieved when the composition, thickness, and stress variations caused by interdiffusion are taken in account. It is found that the significant In-Ga intermixing occurs even in the as-grown InAs/GaAs quantum dots. The diffusion coefficients at different temperatures are estimated. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)02440-2].

Structural and optical properties of self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots covered by InxGa1-xAs (0 <= x <= 0.3)

Optical and structural investigations of InAs quantum dots (QDs) covered by InxGa1-xAs (0 less than or equal to x less than or equal to 0.3) overgrowth layer have been systematically reported. The decrease of strain in the growth direction of InAs quantum dots covered by InGaAs layer instead of GaAs is demonstrated by transmission electron microscopy experiments. In addition, the atomic force microscopy measurement shows that the surface of InAs islands with 3-nm-thick In0.2Ga0.8As becomes flatter. However, the InGaAs islands nucleate on the top of quantum dots during the process of InAs islands covered with In0.3Ga0.7As. The significant redshift of the photoluminescence peak energy and reduction of photoluminescence linewidth of InAs quantum dots covered by InGaAs are observed. The energy gap change of InAs QDs covered by InGaAs could be explained in terms of reducing strain, suppressing compositional mixing, and increasing island height. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)04018-4].

X-ray double-crystal characterization of the strain relaxation in GaAs/GaNxAs1-x/GaAs(001) sandwiched structures

An X-ray diffraction method, estimating the strain relaxation in an ultrathin layer, has been discussed by using kinematic and dynamical X-ray diffraction (XRD) theory. The characteristic parameter Delta Omega, used as the criterion of the strain relaxation in ultrathin layers, is deduced theoretically. It reveals that Delta Omega should be independent of the layer thickness in a coherently strained layer. By this method, we characterized our ultrathin GaNxAs1-x samples with N contents up to 5%. XRD measurements show that our GaNxAs1-x layers are coherently strained on GaAs even for such a large amount of N. Furthermore, a series of GaNxAs1-x samples with same N contents but different layer thicknesses were also characterized. It was found that the critical thickness (L-c) of GaNAs in the GaAs/GaNAs/GaAs structures determined by XRD measurement was 10 times smaller than the theoretical predictions based on the Matthews and Blakeslee model. This result was also confirmed by in situ observation of reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. RHEED observation showed that the growth mode of GaNAs layer changed from 2D- to 3D-mode as the layer thickness exceeded L-c. PL measurements showed that the optical properties of GaNAs layers deteriorated rapidly as the layer thickness exceeded L-c. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Atomic-force-microscopy investigation of the formation and evolution of Ge islands on GexSi1-x strained layers

A constant amount of Ge was deposited on strained GexSi1-x layers of approximately the same thickness but with different alloy compositions, ranging from x = 0.06 to x = 0.19. From their atomic-force-microscopy images, we found that both the size and density of Ge islands increased with the Ge composition of the strained layer. By conservation of mass, this implies that these islands must incorporate material from the underlying strained layer. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)03529-4].

Photoluminescence of erbium-doped hydrogenated amorphous SiOx(0 < x < 2)

Hydrogenated amorphous SiOx films are fabricated via plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique. After erbium implantation and rapid thermal annealing, photoluminescence (PL) are measured at 77 K and room temperature (RT), respectively. We observed the strong PL at 1.54 mu m at RT. The 1.54 mu m PL intensity changes with the variation of concentration of oxygen. The most intense PL at 77 K in a-SiOx:H (Er) corresponds to O/Si = 1.0 and at RT to O/Si = 1.76. Based on our results, we propose that Er ions contributed to PL come from O-rich region in the film. Er ions in Si-rich region have no relation with FL. Temperature dependence of the intensity of the 1.54 mu m line of the Er3+ transition displays a very weak temperature quenching in Er-doped hydrogenated amorphous Si. The PL intensity at 250 K is a little more one half of that at 15 K.

Relaxed GexSi1-x layer formation with reduced dislocation density grown by ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition

A new alternative method to grow the relaxed Ge0.24Si0.76 layer with a reduced dislocation density by ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition is reported in this paper. A 1000-Angstrom Ge0.24Si0.76 layer was first grown on a Si(100) substrate. Then a 500-Angstrom Si layer and a subsequent 5000-Angstrom Ge0.24Si0.76 overlayer followed. All these three layers were grown at 600 degrees C. After being removed from the growth system to air, the sample was first annealed at 850 degrees C for 30 min, and then was investigated by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy. It is shown that the 5000-Angstrom Ge0.24Si0.76 thick over layer is perfect, and most of the threading dislocations are located in the embedded thin Si layer and the lower 1000-Angstrom Ge0.24Si0.76 layer. The relaxation ratio of the over layer is deduced to be 0.8 from Raman spectroscopy.

Growth and characterization of strained superlattices delta-GaNxAs1-x/GaAs by molecular beam epitaxy

A series of superlattices delta-GaNxAs1-x/GaAs were grown by a DC plasma-N-2-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. The evolution of the surface reconstruction during the growth has been studied with the use of in situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction. The superlattices have been characterized by high-resolution X-ray diffraction measurements. Distinct satellite peaks indicate that the superlattices are of good quality. The N compositions in strained GaNxAs1-x monolayers are obtained from the dynamical simulations of the measured X-ray diffraction patterns. The periodicity fluctuations of N composition are obtained from a kinematical method dependent on the broadening of the satellite peaks of the X-ray diffraction. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of rapid thermal annealing on the optical properties of GaNxAs1-x/GaAs single quantum well structure grown by molecular beam epitaxy

The effect of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on the optical properties of GaNxAs1-x/GaAs strained single quantum well (SQW) was studied by low-temperature photoluminescence (PL). The GaNxAs1-x/GaAs SQW structures were prepared by dc active nitrogen plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy. PL measurements on a series of samples with different well widths and nitrogen compositions were used to evaluate the effects of RTA. The annealing temperature and time were varied from 650 to 850 degrees C and 30 s to 15 min, respectively. Remarkable improvements of the optical properties of the samples were observed after RTA under optimum conditions. The interdiffusion constants have been calculated by taking into account error function diffusion and solving the Schrodinger equation. The estimated interdiffusion constants D are 10(-17)-10(-16) cm(2)/s for the earlier annealing conditions. Activation energies of 6-7 eV are obtained by fitting the temperature dependence of the interdiffusion constants. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)10401-3].

Investigation on quality of cubic GaN/GaAs(100) by double-crystal X-ray diffraction

Cubic GaN was grown on GaAs(100) by low pressure metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and photoluminescence (PL) spectra were performed to characterize the quality of the GaN film. The PL spectra of cubic GaN thin films being thicker than 1.5 mu m were reported. Triple-crystal diffraction to analyze orientation distributions and strain of the thin films was also demonstrated.