Photoluminescence study of self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots covered by an InAlAs and InGaAs combination layer

We have fabricated a quantum dot (QD) structure for long-wavelength temperature-insensitive semiconductor laser by introducing a combined InAlAs and InGaAs overgrowth layer on InAs/GaAs QDs. We found that QDs formed on GaAs (100) substrate by InAs deposition followed by the InAlAs and InGaAs combination layer demonstrate two effects: one is the photoluminescence peak redshift towards 1.35 mum at room temperature, the other is that the energy separation between the ground and first excited states can be up to 103 meV. These results are attributed to the fact that InAs/GaAs intermixing caused by In segregation at substrate temperature of 520 degreesC can be considerably suppressed by the thin InAlAs layer and the strain in the quantum dots can be reduced by the combined InAlAs and InGaAs layer. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.

A novel line-order of InAs quantum dots on GaAs

A novel line-order of InAs quantum dots (QDs) along the [1, 1, 0] direction on GaAs substrate has been prepared by self-organized growth. After 2.5 monolayer InAs deposition, QDs in the first layer of multi-layer samples started to gather in a line. Owing to the action of strong stress between layers, almost all the dots of the fourth layer gathered in lines. The dots lining up tightly are actually one-dimensional superlattice of QDs, of which the density of electronic states is different from that of isolated QDs or quantum wires. The photoluminescence spectra of our multi-layer QD sample exhibited a feature of very broad band so that it is suitable for the active medium of super luminescent diode. The reason of dots lining up is attributed to the hill-and-valley structure of the buffer, anisotropy and different diffusion rates in the different directions on the buffer and strong stress between QD layers. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B. V.

Structure and optical properties of self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots with In0.15Ga0.85As underlying layer

A high density of 1.02 x 10(11) cm(-2) of InAs islands with In(0.15)Gao(0.85)As underlying layer has been achieved on GaAs (10 0) substrate by solid source molecular beam epitaxy. Atomic force microscopy and PL spectra show the size evolution of InAs islands. A 1.3 mum photoluminescence (PL) from InAs islands with In(0.15)Gao(0.85)As underlying layer and InGaAs strain-reduced layer has been obtained. Our results provide important information for optimizing the epitaxial structures of 1.3 mum wavelength quantum dots devices. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Numerical analysis of LEC growth of GaAs with an axial magnetic field

A set of numerical analyses for momentum and heat transfer For a 3 in. (0.075 m) diameter Liquid Encapsulant Czochralski (LEC) growth of single-crystal GaAs with or without all axial magnetic field was carried Out using the finite-element method. The analyses assume a pseudosteady axisymmetric state with laminar floats. Convective and conductive heat transfers. radiative heat transfer between diffuse surfaces and the Navier-Stokes equations for both melt and encapsulant and electric current stream function equations Cor melt and crystal Lire considered together and solved simultaneously. The effect of the thickness of encapsulant. the imposed magnetic field strength as well as the rotation rate of crystal and crucible on the flow and heat transfer were investigated. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

Wafer bonding technique used for the integration of cubic GaN/GaAs (001) with Si substrate

We successfully used the metal mediated-wafer bonding technique in transferring the as-grown cubic GaN LED structure of Si substrate. The absorbing GaAs substrate was removed by using the chemical solutions of NH4OH : H2O2=1 : 10. SEM and PL results show that wafer bonding technique could transfer the cubic GaN epilayers uniformly to Si without affecting the physical and optical properties of epilayers. XRD result shows that there appeared new peaks related to AgGa2 and Ni4N diffraction, indicating that the metals used as adhesive and protective layers interacted with the p-GaN layer during the long annealing process. It is just the reaction that ensures the reliability of the integration of GaN with metal and minor contact resistance on the interface.

Room-temperature, ground-state lasing for red-emitting vertically aligned InAlAs/AlGaAs quantum dots grown on a GaAs(100) substrate

The effect of the growth temperature on the properties of InAlAs/AlGaAs quantum dots grown on GaAs(100) substrates is investigated. The optical efficiency and structural uniformity are improved by increasing the growth temperature from 530 to 560 degreesC. The improvements of InAlAs/AlGaAs quantum-dot characteristics could be explained by suppressing the incorporation of oxygen and the formation of group-III vacancies. Furthermore, edge-emitting laser diodes with six quantum-dot layers grown at 560 degreesC have been fabricated. Lasing occurs via the ground state at 725 nm, with a room-temperature threshold current density of 3.9 kA/cm(2), significantly better than previously reported values for this quantum-dot systems. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.

Zero-field spin splitting in In0.52Al0.48As/InxGa1-xAs metamorphic high-electron-mobility-transistor structures on GaAs substrates using Shubnikov-de Haas measurements

Shubnikov-de Haas measurements were carried out for In0.52Al0.48As/InxGa1-xAs metamorphic high-electron-mobility-transistor structures grown on GaAs substrates with different indium contents and/or different Si delta-doping concentrations. Zero-field (B-->0) spin splitting was found in samples with stronger conduction band bending in the InGaAs well. It was shown that the dominant spin splitting mechanism is attributed to the contribution by the Rashba term. We found that zero-field spin splitting not only occurs in the ground electron subband, but also in the first excited electron subband for a sample with Si delta-doping concentration of 6x10(12) cm(-2). We propose that this In0.52Al0.48As/InxGa1-xAs metamorphic high-electron-mobility-transistor structure grown on GaAs may be a promising candidate spin-polarized field-effect transistors. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.

Raman study of low-temperature-grown Al0.29Ga0.71As/GaAs photorefractive materials

We report on the observation of resonant Raman scattering in low-temperature-grown AlGaAs/GaAs structure. Two kinds of excitation lights, 632.8 and 488 nm laser lines, were used to detect scattering signal from different regions based on different penetration depths. Under the outgoing resonant condition, up to fourth-order resonant Raman peaks were observed in the low-temperature-grown AlGaAs alloy, owing to a broad exciton luminescence in low-temperature-grown AlGaAs alloy induced by intrinsic defects and As cluster after post-annealing. These resonant peaks were assigned according to their fundamental modes. Among the resonant peaks, besides the overtones of the GaAs- or AlAs-like mode, there exist combination bands of these two kinds of modes. In addition, a weak scattering peak similar to the bulk GaAs longitudinal optical mode was observed in low-temperature Raman experiments. We consider the weak signal correlated with GaAs clusters appearing in AlGaAs alloys. The accumulation of GaAs in AlGaAs alloys was enhanced after annealing at high temperatures. A detailed study of the dependence of vibration modes on measuring temperature and post-annealing conditions is given also. In light of our experiments, it is suggested that a Raman scattering experiment is a sensitive microscopic probe of local disorder and, especially performed at low temperature, is a superior method in detecting and analyzing the weak interaction between phonons and electrons.

Detection of indium segregation effects in InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells using reflectance-difference spectrometry

The influence of the Indium segregation on the interface asymmetry in InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells have been studied by reflectance-difference spectroscopy (RDS). It is found that the anisotropy of the 2H1E (2HH --> 1E) transition is very sensitive to the degree of the interface asymmetry. Calculations taking into account indium segregation yield good agreement with the observed anisotropy structures. It demonstrates that the anisotropy intensity ratio of the 1L1E (1LH --> 1E) and 2H1E transitions measured by RDS can be used to characterize the interface asymmetry. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Valence band structures of the InAs/GaAs quantum ring

In the framework of effective-mass envelope function theory, the valence energy subbands and optical transitions of the InAs/GaAs quantum ring are calculated by using a four-band valence band model. Our model can be used to calculate the hole states of quantum wells, quantum wires, and quantum dots. The effect of finite offset and valence band mixing are taken into account. The energy levels of the hole are calculated in the different shapes of rings. Our calculations show that the effect of the difference between effective masses of holes in different materials on the valence subband structures is significant. Our theoretical results are consistent with the conclusion of the recent experimental measurements and should be useful for researching and making low-dimensional semiconductor optoelectronic devices. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.

Rapid thermal annealing effects on step-graded InAlAs buffer layer and In0.52Al0.48As/In0.53Ga0.47As metamorphic high electron mobility transistor structures on GaAs substrates

A step-graded InAlAs buffer layer and an In0.52Al0.48As/In0.53Ga0.47As metamorphic high electron mobility transistor (MM-HEMT) structures were grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs (001) substrates, and rapid thermal annealing was performed on them in the temperature range 500-800 degreesC for 30 s. The as-grown and annealed samples were investigated with Hall measurements, and 77 K photoluminescence. After rapid thermal annealing, the resistivities of step-graded InAlAs buffer layer structures became high. This can avoid leaky characteristics and parasitic capacitance for MM-HEMT devices. The highest sheet carrier density n(s) and mobility mu for MM-HEMT structures were achieved by annealing at 600 and 650degreesC, respectively. The relative intensities of the transitions between the second electron subband to the first heavy-hole subband and the first electron subband to the first heavy-hole subband in the MM-HEMT InGaAs well layer were compared under different annealing temperatures. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.

Binding energy of positively and negatively charged excitons in GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs quantum wells

Using a simple two-parameter wavefunction, we calculate variationally the binding energy of positively and negatively charged excitons in GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs quantum wells for well widths from 10 to 300Angstrom. We consider the effect of effective mass, dielectric constant mismatch in the two materials, and the whole correlation among the particles. The results are discussed and compared in detail with previous experimental and theoretical results, which show fair agreement with them.

Structural, optical and intraband absorption properties of vertically aligned In0.32Ga0.68As/GaAs quantum dots superlattices

The self-organization growth of In0.32Ga0.68As/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) superlattices is investigated by molecular beam epitaxy. It is found that high growth temperature and low growth rate are favorable for the formation of perfect vertically aligned QDs superlattices. The aspect ratio (height versus diameter) of QD increases from 0.16 to 0.23 with increase number of bi-layer. We propose that this shape change play a significant role to improve the uniformity of QDs superlattices. Features in the variable temperature photoluminescence characteristics indicate the high uniformity of the QDs. Strong infrared absorption in the 8-12 mum was observed. Our results suggest the promising applications of QDs in normal sensitive infrared photodetectors. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Influence of combined InAlAs and InGaAs strain-reducing laser on luminescence properties of InAs/GaAs quantum dots

We have fabricated self-organized InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) capped by 1 nm In0.2Al0.8As and 5 nm In0.2Ga0.8As strain-reducing layer (SRL). The luminescence emission at a long wavelength of 1.33 mum with narrower half width is realized. A wider energy separation between the ground and first excited radiative transitions of up to 102meV was observed at room temperature. Furthermore, the comparative study proves that luminescence properties of InAs/GaAs QDs overgrown with combined InAlAs and InGaAs SRLs are much better than that of one capped with InGaAs or InAlAs SRL. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.