Effect of GaAS(100) 2 degrees surface misorientation on the formation and optical properties of MOCVD grown InAs quantum dots

The influence of GaAS(1 0 0)2 degrees substrate misorientation on the formation and optical properties of InAs quantum dots (QDs) has been studied in compare with dots on exact GaAs(1 0 0) substrates. It is shown that, while QDs on exact substrates have only one dominant size, dots on misoriented substrates are formed in lines with a clear bimodal size distribution. Room temperature photoluminescence measurements show that QDs on misoriented substrates have narrower FWHM, longer emission wavelength and much larger PL intensity relative to those of dots on exact substrates. However, our rapid thermal annealing (RTA) experiments indicate that annealing shows a stronger effect on dots with misoriented substrates by greatly accelerating the degradation of material quality. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

Synthesis and photoluminescence properties of vertically aligned ZnO nanorod-nanowall junction arrays on a ZnO-coated silicon substrate

Arrays of vertically well-aligned ZnO nanorod-nanowall junctions have been synthesized on an undoped ZnO-coated silicon substrate by a carbothermal reduction and vapour phase transport method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) show that the nanostructures are well-oriented with the c-axis perpendicular to the substrate. The room temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of the as-prepared ZnO nanostructure reveals a dominant near-band-edge (NBE) emission peak and a weak deep level (DL) emission, which demonstrates its good optical properties. Temperature-dependent PL spectra show that both the intensity of NBE and DL emissions increased with decreasing temperature. The NBE emission at 3.27 eV is identified to originate from the radiative free exciton recombination. The possible growth mechanism of ZnO nanorod-nanowall junctions is also proposed.

Effect of substrate temperature on the growth and photoluminescence properties of vertically aligned ZnO nanostructures

Vertically well-aligned ZnO nanoridge, nanorod, nanorod-nanowall junction, and nanotip arrays have been successfully synthesized on Si (100) substrates using a pulsed laser deposition prepared ZnO film as seed layer by thermal evaporation method. Experimental results illustrated that the growth of different morphologies of ZnO nanostructures was strongly dependent upon substrate temperature. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies showed that the ZnO nanostructures were single crystals with a wurtzite structure. Compared with those of the other nanostructures, the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of nanorod-nanowall junctions showed the largest intensity ratio of ultraviolet (UV) to yellow-green emission and the smallest full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the UV peak, reflecting the high optical quality and nearly defect free of crystal structure. The vertical alignment of the nanowire array on the substrate is attributed to the epitaxial growth of the nanostructures from the ZnO buffer layer. The growth mechanism was also discussed in detail. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Temperature and pressure dependences of the copper-related green emission in ZnO microrods

We have investigated the temperature and pressure dependences of the copper-related green emission, which show fine structure at low temperature, from tetrapodlike ZnO microrods. The temperature dependence of the green emission energy follows the changes in the band gap from 10-200 K, but deviates from this behavior above 200 K. The pressure dependence of the copper-related green band (25 +/- 5 meV/GPa) is similar to that of the band gap of ZnO, and is larger than that reported previously for defect-related green emission in ZnO. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Optical characteristics of InAs quantum dots on GaAs matrix by using various InGaAs structures

The effects of various InGaAs layers on the structural and optical properties of InAs self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) grown by molecular-beam epitaxy ( MBE) were investigated. The emission wavelength of 1317 nm was obtained by embedding InAs QDs in InGAs/GgAs quantum well. The temperature-dependent and timed-resolved photoluminescence (TDPL and TRPL) were used to study the dynamic characteristics of carriers. InGaAs cap layer may improve the quality of quantum dots for the strain relaxation around QDs, which results in a stronger PL intensity and an increase of PL peak lifetime up to 170 K. We found that InGaAs buffer layer may reduce the PL peak lifetime of InAs QDs, which is due to the buffer layer accelerating the carrier migration. The results also show that InGaAs cap layer can increase the temperature point when, the thermal reemission and nonradiative recombination contribute significantly to the carrier dynamics.

Efficiently producing single-walled carbon nanotube rings and investigation of their field emission properties

Single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) rings with a diameter of about 100 nm have been prepared by thermally decomposing hydrocarbon in a floating catalyst system. These rings appeared to consist mostly of SWNT toroids. High resolution transmission electron microscopy showed that these rings were composed of tens of SWNTs with a tightly packed arrangement. The production of SWNT rings was improved through optimizing various growth parameters, such as growth temperature, sublimation temperature of the catalyst, different gas flows and different catalyst components. The growth mechanism of the SWNT rings is discussed. In the field emission measurements we found that field emission from a halved ring is better than that from a whole SWNT ring, which contributed to the better emission from two opened ends of the nanotubes of the halved SWNT ring.

Dependence of bimodal size distribution on temperature and optical properties of InAs quantum dots grown on vicinal GaAs (1-00) substrates by using MOCVD

Self-assembled InAs quantum dots (QDs) are grown on vicinal GaAs (100) substrates by using metal-organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD). An abnormal temperature dependence of bimodal size distribution of InAs quantum dots is found. As the temperature increases, the density of the small dots grows larger while the density of the large dots turns smaller, which is contrary to the evolution of QDs on exact GaAs (100) substrates. This trend is explained by taking into account the presence of multiatomic steps on the substrates. The optical properties of InAs QDs on vicinal GaAs(100) substrates are also studied by photoluminescence (PL). It is found that dots on a vicinal substrate have a longer emission wavelength, a narrower PL line width and a much larger PL intensity.

The role of Sb in the molecular beam epitaxy growth of 1.30-1.55 mu m wavelength GaInNAs/GaAs quantum well with high indium content

Sb-assisted GaInNAs/GaAs quantum wells (QWs) with high (42.5%) indium content were investigated systematically. Transmission electron microscopy, reflection high-energy electron diffraction and photoluminescence (PL) measurements reveal that Sb acts as a surfactant to suppress three-dimensional growth. The improvement in the 1.55 mu m range is much more apparent than that in the 1.3 mu m range.. which can be attributed to the difference in N composition. The PL intensity and the full-width at half maximum of the 1.55 mu m single-QW were comparable with that of the 1.3 Am QWs. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Influence of growth parameters of frequency-radio plasma nitrogen source on extending emission wavelengths from 1.31 mu m to 1.55 mu m GaInNAs/GaAs quantum wells grown by molecular-beam epitaxy

High (42.5%) indium content GaInNAs/GaAs quantum wells with room temperature emission wavelength from 1.3 mu m to 1.5 mu m range were successfully grown by Radio Frequency Plasma Nitrogen source assisted Molecular Beam Epitaxy. The growth parameters of plasma power and N-2 How rate were optimized systematically to improve the material quality. Photoluminescence and transmission electron microscopy measurements showed that the optical and crystal quality of the 1.54 mu m GaInNAs/GaAs QWs was kept as comparable as that in 1.31 mu m.

Temperature dependence of the formation of nano-scale indium clusters in InAlGaN alloys on Si(111) substrates

The temperature dependence of the formation of nano-scale indium clusters in InAlGaN quaternary alloys, which are grown by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition on GaN/Si(111) epilayers, is investigated. Firm evidence is provided to support the existence of phase separation, or nano-scale In-rich clusters, by the combined results of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), high-resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and micro-Raman spectra. The results of HRXRD and Raman spectra indicate that the degree of phase separation is strong and the number of In clusters in the InAlGaN layers on silicon substrate is higher at lower growth temperatures than that at higher growth temperatures, which limits the In and Al incorporated into the InAlGaN quaternary alloys. The detailed mechanism of luminescence in this system is studied by low temperature photoluminescence (LT-PL). We conclude that the ultraviolet (UV) emission observed in the quaternary InAlGaN alloys arises from the matrix of a random alloy, and the second emission peak in the blue-green region results from the nano-scale indium clusters.

Growth of InAs quantum dots on vicinal GaAs (100) substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition and their optical properties

The growth of InAs quantum dots on vicinal GaAs (100) Substrates was systematically studied using low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The dots showed a clear bimodal size distribution on vicinal substrates. The way of evolution of this bimodal size distribution was studied as a function of growth temperature, InAs layer thickness and InAs deposition rate. The optical properties of dots grown on vicinal substrates were also studied by photoluminescence (PL). It was found that, compared with dots on exact substrates, dots on vicinal substrates had better optical properties such as a narrower PL line width, a longer emission wavelength, and a larger PL intensity. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Synthesis and temperature-dependent near-band-edge emission of chain-like Mg-doped ZnO nanoparticles

Chain-like Mg-doped ZnO nanoparticles were prepared using a wet chemical method combined with subsequent heat treatment. The blueshifted near-band-edge emission of the doped ZnO sample with respect to the undoped one was investigated by temperature-dependent photoluminescence. Based on the energy shift of the free-exciton transition, a band gap enlargement of similar to 83 meV was estimated, which seems to result in the equivalent shift of the bound-exciton transition. At 50 K, the transformation from the donor-acceptor-pair to free-to-acceptor emissions was observed for both the undoped and doped samples. The results show that Mg doping leads to the decrease of the acceptor binding energy. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Recombination property of nitrogen-acceptor-bound states in ZnO

The recombination property of nitrogen (N)-related acceptor-bound states in ZnO has been investigated by photoluminescence (PL), time-resolved PL, and selective PL. Several possible recombination processes were discussed by analyzing the relaxation and recombination properties under large Coulomb interaction. It is strongly suggested that bound exciton emission dominates the recombination process related to the N acceptor. The recombination lifetime is 750 ps and the binding energy is 67 meV for N-acceptor-bound exciton at low temperature. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Time-resolved photoluminescence spectra of self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots

Two types of InAs self-assembled Quantum dots (QDs) were prepared by Molecular beam epitaxy. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements showed that, compared to QDs grown on GaAs substrate, QDs grown on InGaAs layer has a significantly enhanced density. The short spacing (several nanometer) among QDs stimulates strong coupling and leads to a large red-shift of the 1.3 mu m photoluminescence (PL) peak. We study systematically the dependence of PL lifetime on the QDs size, density and temperature (1). We found that, below 50 K, the PL lifetime is insensitive to temperature, which is interpreted from the localization effects. As T increases, the PL lifetime increases, which can be explained from the competition between the carrier redistribution and thermal emission at higher temperature. The increase of carriers in QDs migrated from barriers and wetting layer (WL), and the redistribution of carriers among QDs enhance the PL lifetime as T increases. The thermal emission and non-radiative recombination have effects to reduce the PL lifetime at higher T. As a result, the radiative recombination lifetime is determined by the wave function overlapping of electrons and holes in QDs, and QDs with different densities have different PL lifetime dependence on the QDs size. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.