Conduction band offset and electron effective mass in GaInNAs/GaAs quantum-well structures with low nitrogen concentration

We have investigated the optical transitions in Ga1-yInyNxAs1-x/GaAs single and multiple quantum wells using photovoltaic measurements at room temperature. From a theoretical fit to the experimental data, the conduction band offset Q(c), electron effective mass m(e)*, and band gap energy E-g were estimated. It was found that the Q(c) is dependent on the indium concentration, but independent on the nitrogen concentration over the range x=(0-1)%. The m(e)* of GaInNAs is much greater than that of InGaAs with the same concentration of indium, and increases as the nitrogen concentration increases up to 1%. Our experimental results for the m(e)* and E-g of GaInNAs are quantitatively explained by the two-band model based on the strong interaction of the conduction band minimum with the localized N states. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.

Effect of InxGa1-xAs (0 <= x <= 0.4) capping layer on self-assembled 1.3 mu m wavelength InAs/GaAs quantum islands

We report the effect of InchiGa1-chiAs (0 less than or equal to chi less than or equal to0.4) capping layer on photoluminescence (PL) properties of 1.3 mum wavelength self-assembled InAs quantum islands, which are formed via depositing 3.5 monolayers (ML) InAs on GaAs (1 0 0) substrate by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Compared with the InchiGa1-chiAs capping layer containing a larger In mole fraction chi greater than or equal to0.2 and the GaAs capping layer (chi = 0), the InAs islands covered by the In0.1Ga0.9As layer show PL with lower emission energy, narrower full-width at half-maximum (FWHM), and quite stronger intensity. The PL peak energy and FWHM become more temperature dependent with the increase of In content in the InchiGa1-chiAs capping layer (chi greater than or equal to0.2), while the InAs islands covered by the In0.1Ga0.9As layer is much less temperature sensitive. In addition, the InAs islands covered by the In0.1Ga0.9As capping layer show room temperature PL wavelength at about 1.3 mum. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

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.

Photoluminescence properties of self-organized InGaAs/GaAs quantum dot structures

Optical properties of InGaAs/GaAs self-organized quantum dots (QDs) structures covered by InxGa1-x As capping layers with different In contents chi ranging from 0. 0 (i.e., GaAs) to 0. 3 were investigated systematically by photoluminescence (PL) measurements. Red-shift of the PL peak energies of the InAs QDs covered by InxGa1-xAs layers with narrower linewidth and less shifts of the PL emissions via variations of the measurement temperatures were observed compared with that covered by GaAs layers. Calculation and structural measurements confirm that the red-shift of the PL peaks are mainly due to strain reduction and suppression of the In/Ga intermixing due to the InxGa1-xAs cover layer, leading to better size uniformity and thus narrowing the PL linewidth of the QDs. 1. 3 mum wavelength emission with very narrow linewidth of only 19. 2 meV at room temperature was successfully obtained from the In0.5Ga0.5As/GaAs QDs covered by the In0.2Ga0.8As layer.

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).

Effect of in situ thermal treatment during growth on crystal quality of GaN epilayer grown on sapphire substrate by MOVPE

GaN epilayers on sapphire substrate grown by metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy (MOVPE) in a horizontal-type low-pressure two-channel reactor were investigated. Samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman scattering, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The influence of the temperature changes between low temperature (LT) deposited GaN buffer and high temperature (WT) grown GaN epilayer on crystal quality of epilayer was extensively studied. The effect of in situ thermal annealing during the growth on improving the GaN layer crystal quality was demonstrated and the possible mechanism involved in such a growth process was discussed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Strain-compensated quantum cascade lasers operating at room temperature

Quantum cascade (QC) lasers based on strain-compensated InxGa(1-x)As/InyAl(1-y)As grown on InP substrate using molecular beam epitaxy is reported. The epitaxial quality is demonstrated by the abundant narrow satellite peaks of double-crystal X-ray diffraction and cross-section transmission electron microscopy of the QC laser wafer. Laser action in quasi-continuous wave operation is achieved at lambda approximate to 3.6-3.7 mum at room temperature (34 degreesC) for 20 mum x 1.6 mm devices, with peak output powers of similar to 10.6mW and threshold current density of 2.7kA/cm(2) at this temperature. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

Temperature quenching mechanisms for photoluminescence of MBE-grown chlorine-doped ZnSe epilayers

We report on a detailed investigation on the temperature-dependent behavior of photoluminescence from molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)-grown chlorine-doped ZnSe epilayers. The overwhelming neutral donor bound exciton ((ClX)-X-0) emission at 2.797 eV near the band edge with a full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of similar to 13 meV reveals the high crystalline quality of the samples used. In our experiments, the quick quenching of the (ClX)-X-0 line above 200 K is mainly due to the presence of a nonradiative center with a thermal activation energy of similar to 90 meV, The same activation energy and similar quenching tendency of the (ClX)-X-0 line and the I-3 line at 2.713 eV indicate that they originate from the same physical mechanism. We demonstrate for the first time that the dominant decrease of the integrated intensity of the I, line is due to the thermal excitation of the "I-3 center"-bound excitons to its free exciton states, leaving the "I-3 centers" as efficient nonradiative centers. The optical performance of ZnSe materials is expected to be greatly improved if the density of the "I-3 center" can be controlled. The decrease in the luminescence intensity at moderately low temperature (30-200 K) of the (ClX)-X-0 line is due to the thermal activation of neutral-donor-bound excitons ((ClX)-X-0) to free excitons. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

High-performance strain-compensated InGaAs/InAlAs quantum cascade lasers

We report on the realization of quantum cascade (QC) lasers based on strain-compensated InxGa(1-x)As/In(y)A((1-y))As grown on InP substrates using molecular beam epitaxy. X-ray diffraction and cross section transmission electron microscopy have been used to ascertain the quality of the QC laser materials. Quasi-continuous wave lasing at lambda approximate to 3.54-3.7 mum at room temperature was achieved. For a laser with 1.6 mm cavity length and 20 mum ridge-waveguide width,quasi-continuous wave lasing at 34 degreesC persists for more than 30 min, with a maximum power of 11.4 mW and threshold current density of 1.2 kA cm(-2), both record values for QC lasers of comparable wavelength.

Influence of dual incorporation of In and N on the luminescence of GaInNAs/GaAs single quantum wells

The optical properties of above- and below-band-edge transitions have been investigated by incorporating In atoms into GaNAs/GaAs single quantum wells. The experimental results show that with increasing In concentration the interband luminescence is improved and the luminescence intensity below the band edge in GaInNAs/GaAs decreases significantly. An interpretation is given that N atoms are preferable to form a covalent bond with In than with Ga atoms in a GaInNAs alloy, due to the compensation of the atomic-size difference between In and N atoms on the GaAs substrate. The photoreflectance spectra of the GaInNAs/GaAs single quantum well support the assignment of an intrinsic mechanism to the high-energy luminescence peak. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003- 6951(00)01752-6].

Temperature dependence of electron redistribution in modulation-doped InAs/GaAs quantum dots

In this work we report the photoluminescence (PL) and interband absorption study of Si-modulation-doped multilayer InAs/GaAs quantum dots grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on (100) oriented GaAs substrates. Low-temperature PL shows a distinctive double-peak feature. Power-dependent PL and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirm that they stem from the ground states emission of islands of bimodal size distribution. Temperature-dependent PL study indicates that the family of small dots is ensemble effect dominated while the family of large dots is likely to be dominated by the intrinsic property of single quantum dots (QDs). The temperature-dependent PL and interband absorption measurements are discussed in terms of thermalized redistribution of the carriers among groups of QDs of different sizes in the ensemble. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Point defects in III-V compound semiconductors

Point defects in III-V compound semiconductors were analyzed systematically in this paper. The effects of substitutes, antisites, interstitials, and vacancies on lattice parameters in III-V compound semiconductors were calculated with a simple model. The formation energies of vacancies in compound semiconductors can be obtained by this calculation. A practical technique established on this model has been utilized for measuring the stoichiometry in GaAs. The relationship between stoichiometry and deep level centers in GaAs was also investigated.

The effect of substrate orientation on the morphology of InAs nanostructures on (001) and (11n)A/B(n=1-5) InP substrates

Strained InAs nanostructures have been grown by solid-source molecular beam epitaxy in In0.52Al0.48As matrix on different InP substrate surfaces ((0 0 1) and (1 1 n)A/B (n = 1 - 5)). The morphology of the nanostructures was characterized using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The AFM results reveal interesting differences in the size, shape, and alignment of the nanostructures between different oriented surfaces. It was found that some faceted nanostructures tend to form on A-type surfaces, the shape and the alignment of these nanostructures show clear dependence on the substrate orientation. Samples grown on (0 0 1) and B-type surfaces showed preferentially dense round dots. Dots formed on (1 1 3)B, (1 1 3)B and (1 1 5)B surfaces have a higher dot density and size homogeneity, which shows a potential for the production of high-quality and customized self-assembled quantum dots for photonics applications. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Formation of InAs quantum dots on low-temperature GaAs epi-layer

InAs self-organized quantum dots (QDs) grown on annealed low-temperature GaAs (LT-GaAs) epi-layers and on normal temperature GaAs buffer layers have been compared by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. TEM evidences that self-organized QDs were formed with a smaller size and larger density than that on normal GaAs buffer layers. It is discussed that local tensile surface strain regions that are preferred sites for InAs islands nucleation are increased in the case of the LT-GaAs buffer layers due to exhibiting As precipitates. The PL spectra show a blue-shifted peak energy with narrower linewidth revealing the improvement of optical properties of the QDs grown on LT-GaAs epi-layers. It suggests us a new way to improve the uniformity and change the energy band structure of the InAs self-organized QDs by carefully controlling the surface stress states of the LT-GaAs buffers on which the QDs are formed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Two-dimensional ordering of self-assembled InAs quantum dots grown on (311)B InP substrate

Self-assembled InAs quantum dots (QDs) in InAlAs grown on (001) and (311)B InP substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) have been comparatively investigated. A correlated study of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and photoluminescence (PL) disclosed that InAs QDs grown on high-index InP substrates can lead to high density and uniformity. By introducing a lattice-matched InAlGaAs overlayer on InAlAs buffer, still more dense and uniform InAs QDs were obtained in comparison with InAs QDs formed with only InAlAs matrix. Moreover, two-dimensional well-ordered InAs dots with regular shape grown on (311)B InP substrates are reported for the first time. We explained this exceptional phenomenon from strain energy combined with kinetics point of view. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.