Temperature dependence of photoluminescence of an n-i-p-i GaAs superlattice

Both the photoluminescence peaks corresponding to the vertical transitions and the nonvertical transitions in an n-i-p-i GaAs superlattice are clearly observed. The redshifts of the two peaks with increasing temperature are: discussed in terms of the temperature-dependent carrier separation effect.

Anomalous strains in the cubic-phase GaN films grown on GaAs (001) by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

Strains in cubic GaN films grown on GaAs (001) were measured by a triple-axis x-ray diffraction method. Residual strains in the as-grown epitaxial films were in compression, contrary to the predicted tensile strains caused by large lattice mismatch between epilayers and GaAs substrates (20%). It was also found that the relief of strains in the GaN films has a complicated dependence on the growth conditions. We interpreted this as the interaction between the lattice mismatch and thermal mismatch stresses. The fully relaxed lattice constants of cubic GaN are determined to be 4.5038 +/- 0.0009 Angstrom, which is in excellent agreement with the theoretical prediction of 4.503 Angstrom. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)07918-4].

Surface states induced photoluminescence from Mn2+ doped CdS nanoparticles

Manganese doped CdS nanoparticles were synthesized in basic aqueous solution by using mercapto acetate as capping reagents. The nanoparticles were characterized by HRTEM, EPR, photoluminescence and optical absorption measurements. Out of our expectation, doping of Mn2+ ions altered the recombination paths in CdS nanoparticles markedly. The surface stares facilitated PL from Mn2+ doped CdS nanoparticles is reported. A complete suppression of the emission from surface states at room temperature when doping with Mn2+ ions has been observed for the first time. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optical-phonon modes and Frohlich potential in quantum dots

By extending the microscopic dipole model on optical-phonon modes as applied in quantum wells and quantum wires, to rectangular quantum dots (QD), optical phonon modes and their accompanying Frohlich potentials in QD are calculated and classified. When the bulk phonon dispersion is ignored, the optical phonon modes in QD can be clearly divided into the confined LO- and TO-bulk-like modes and the extended interface-like modes. Among the interface-like modes, a special attention is given to the corner modes, whose anisotropic behavior is depicted in the long wavelength limit. Based on the numerical results, a set of analytical formula are proposed to approximately describe the bulk-like modes, for which both the optical displacements and Frohlich potentials vanish at the interfaces. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exciton states and optical spectra in CdSe nanocrystallite quantum dots

By using the hole effective-mass Hamiltonian for semiconductors with the wurtzite structure, we have studied the exciton states and optical spectra in CdSe nanocrystallite quantum dots. The intrinsic asymmetry of the hexagonal lattice structure and the effect of spin-orbital coupling (SOC) on the hole states are investigated. It is found that the strong SOC limit is a good approximation for hole states. The selection rules and oscillator strengths for optical transitions between the conduction- and valence-band states are obtained. The Coulomb interaction of exciton states is also taken into account. In order to identify the exciton states, we use the approximation of eliminating the coupling of Gamma(6)(X, Y) with Gamma(1)(Z) states. The results are found to account for most of the important features of the experimental photoluminescence excitation spectra of Norris ct nl. However, if the interaction between Gamma(6)(X, Y) and Gamma(1)(Z) states is ignored, the optically passive P-x state cannot become the ground hole state for small CdSe quantum dots of radius less than 30 Angstrom. It is suggested that the intrinsic asymmetry of the hexagonal lattice structure and the coupling of Gamma(6)(X,Y) with Gamma(1)(Z) states are important for understanding the "dark exciton" effect.

Structural and photoluminescence properties of In-0.9(Ga/Al)(0.1)As self-assembled quantum dots on InP substrate

Self-assembled In0.9Ga0.1As, In0.9Al0.1As, and InAs quantum dots (QD) were fabricated in an InAlAs matrix lattice-matched to an InP substrate by molecular beam epitaxy. Preliminary characterizations were performed using transmission electron microscopy, photoluminescence, and reflection high-energy electron diffraction. Experimental results reveal clear differences in QD formation, size distribution, and luminescence between the InAs and In-0.9(Ga/Al)(0.1)As samples, which show the potential of introducing ternary compositions to adjust the structural and optical properties of QDs on an InP substrate. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)10213-0].

Hydrogen-dependent lattice dilation in GaN

Using Raman spectroscopy we have analysed the strain status of GaN films grown on sapphire substrates by NH3 source molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). In addition to the expected compressive biaxial strain, in some cases GaN films grown on c-face sapphire substrates suffer from serious tensile biaxial strain. This anomalous behaviour has been well interpreted in terms of interstitial hydrogen-dependent lattice dilation. The hydrogen concentration in the films is measured by nuclear reaction analysis (NRA). With increasing hydrogen incorporation, the residual compressive biaxial strain is first further relaxed, and then turns into tensile strain when the hydrogen contaminant exceeds a critical concentration. The hydrogen incorporation during the growth process is found to be growth-rate dependent, and is supposed to be strain driven. We believe that the strain-induced interstitial incorporation is another way for strain relaxation during heteroepitaxy, besides the two currently well known mechanisms: formation of dislocations and growth front roughening.

Carrier capture into InAs/GaAs quantum dots detected by a simple degenerate pump-probe technique

We demonstrate that the carrier capture and relaxation processes in InAs/GaAs quantum dots can be detected by a simple degenerate pump-probe technique. We have observed a rising process in the transient reflectivity, following the initial fast relaxation in a GaAs matrix, and assigned this rising process to the carrier capture from the GaAs barriers to the InAs layers. The assignment was modeled using the Kramers-Kronig relations. The capture time was found to depend strongly on the InAs layer thickness as well as on the excitation density and photon energy. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Energy band and acceptor binding energy of GaN and AlxGa1-xN

The hole effective-mass Hamiltonian for the semiconductors of wurtzite structure is established, and the effective-mass parameters of GaN and AlxGa1-xN are given. Besides the asymmetry in the z and x, y directions, the linear term of the momentum operator in the Hamiltonian is essential in determining the valence band structure, which is different from that of the zinc-blende structure. The binding energies of acceptor states are calculated by solving strictly the effective-mass equations. The binding energies of donor and acceptor for wurtzite GaN are 20 and 131, 97 meV, respectively, which are inconsistent with the recent experimental results. It is proposed that there are two kinds of acceptors in wurtzite GaN. One kind is the general acceptor such as C, substituting N, which satisfies the effective-mass theory, and the other includes Mg, Zn, Cd etc., the binding energy of which deviates from that given by the effective-mass theory. Experimentally, wurtzite GaN was grown by the MBE method, and the PL spectra were measured. Three main peaks are assigned to the DA transitions from the two kinds of acceptor. Some of the transitions were identified as coming from the cubic phase of GaN, which appears randomly within the predominantly hexagonal material. The binding energy of acceptor in ALN is about 239, 158 meV, that in AlxGa1-xN alloys (x approximate to 0.2) is 147, 111 meV, close to that in GaN. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.

Binding energy of ionized-donor-bound excitons in the GaAs-AlxGa1-xAs quantum wells

The binding energy of an exciton bound to an ionized donor impurity (D+,X) located st the center or the edge in GaAs-AlxGa1-xAs quantum wells is calculated variationally for the well width from 10 to 300 Angstrom by using a two-parameter wave function, The theoretical results are discussed and compared with the previous experimental results.

Self-sustained oscillations caused by magnetic field in a weakly-coupled GaAs/AlAs superlattice

We have investigated the influence of transverse magnetic field B up to 14 T at 1.6 K on the tunneling processes of electric field domains in doped weakly coupled GaAs/AlAs superlattices. Three regimes, i.e, stable field domains, current self-sustained oscillations and averaged field distribution are successively observed with increasing B. The mechanisms of switching-over among these regimes are due to B-induced modification of the dependence of the effective electron drift velocity on electric field. The simulated calculation gives a good agreement with the observed experimental results. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Quantum confinement of phonon modes in GaAs quantum dots

Phonon modes in spherical GaAs quantum dots (QDs) with up to 11,855 atoms (8 nm in size) are calculated by using an empirical microscopic model. The group theory is employed to reduce the computational intensity, which further allows us to investigate the quantum confinement of phonon modes with different symmetries and reveals a phenomenon that phonon modes with different symmetries have different quantum confinement effect. For zinc-blende structure, the modes with the A(1) symmetry has the strongest quantum confinement effect and the T-1 modes the weakest. This could cause a crossover of symmetries of the highest frequency from A(1) to T-2 when the size of QDs decreases. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd, All rights reserved.

Properties of proton-implanted p-type Si: supports for the models explaining a novel p-n junction in Si

Proton-implanted and annealed p-type Si wafers were investigated by using both transmission electron microscopy and spreading resistivity probe. The novel pn junction [Li et al., Mat. Res. Sec. Symp, Proc. 396 (1996) 745], as obtained by using n-type Si subjected to the process as this work, was not observed in the p-type Si wafers in this work. A drop of superficial resistivity in the sample was found and is explained by the proposed models interpreting the novel pn junction. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Electronic structure of quantum spheres with wurtzite structure

The hole effective-mass Hamiltonian for the semiconductors with wurtzite structure is given. The effective-mass parameters are determined by fitting the valence-band structure near the top with that calculated by the empirical pseudopotential method: The energies and corresponding wave functions are calculated with the obtained effective-mass Hamiltonian for the CdSe quantum spheres, and the energies as functions of sphere radius R are given for the zero spin-orbital coupling (SOC) and finite SOC cases. The energies do not vary as 1/R-2 as the general cases, which is caused by the crystal-field splitting energy and the linear terms in the Hamiltonian. It is found that the ground state is not the optically active S state for the R smaller than 30 Angstrom, in agreement with the experimental results and the "dark exciton'' theory. [S0163-1829(99)01040-1].

Compensation ratio-dependent concentration of a VInH4 complex in n-type liquid encapsulated Czochralski InP

The concentration of hydroen-indium vacancy complex VInH4 in liquid encapsulated Czochralski undoped and Fe-doped n-type InP has been studied by low-temperature infrared absorption spectroscopy. The VInH4 complex is found to be a dominant intrinsic shallow donor defect with concentrations up to similar to 10(16) cm(-3) in as-grown liquid encapsulated Czochralski InP. The concentration of the VInH4 complex is found to increase with the compensation ratio in good agreement with the proposed defect formation model of Walukiewicz [W. Walukiewicz, Phys. Rev. B 37, 4760 (1998); Appl. Phys. Lett. 54, 2094 (1989)], which predicts a Fermi-level-dependent concentration of amphoteric defects. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics, [S0003-6951(98)04435-0].