Study of the wetting layer of InAs/GaAs nanorings grown by droplet epitaxy

The properties of the wetting layer (WL) of InAs nanorings grown by droplet epitaxy have been studied. The heavy-hole (HH) and light-hole (LH) related transitions of the In(Ga)As WL were observed by reflectance difference spectroscopy. From the temperature dependent photoluminescence behavior of InAs rings, the channel for carriers to redistribute was found to be the compressed GaAs instead of the In(Ga)As layer, which strongly indicated that the wetting layer was depleted around the rings. Futhermore, a complex evolution of the WL with In deposition amount has been observed. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Coulomb blockade double-dot Aharonov-Bohm interferometer: Giant fluctuations

Electron transport through two parallel quantum dots is a kind of solid-state realization of double path interference We demonstrate that the inter-clot Coulomb correlation and quantum coherence would result in strong current fluctuations with a divergent Fano factor at zero frequency. We also provide physical interpretation for this surprising result, which displays its generic feature and allows us to recover this phenomenon in more complicated systems. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Indium-Induced Effect on Polarized Electroluminescence from InGaN/GaN MQWs Light Emitting Diodes

Polarization-resolved edge-emitting electroluminescence (EL) studies of InGaN/GaN MQWs of wavelengths from near-UV (390 nm) to blue (468 nm) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are performed. Although the TE mode is dominant in all the samples of InGaN/GaN MQW LEDs, an obvious difference of light polarization properties is found in the InGaN/GaN MQW LEDs with different wavelengths. The polarization degree decreases from 52.4% to 26.9% when light wavelength increases. Analyses of band structures of InGaN/GaN quantum wells and luminescence properties of quantum dots imply that quantum-dot-like behavior is the dominant reason for the low luminescence polarization degree of blue LEDs, and the high luminescence polarization degree of UV LEDs mainly comes from QW confinement and the strain effect. Therefore, indium induced carrier confinement (quantum-dot-like behavior) might play a major role in the polarization degree change of InGaN/GaN MQW LEDs from near violet to blue.

Kinetically controlled InN nucleation on GaN templates by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition

This paper presents a study on the nucleation and initial growth kinetics of InN on GaN, especially their dependence on metalorganic chemical vapour deposition conditions. It is found that the density and size of separated InN nano-scale islands can be adjusted and well controlled by changing the V/III ratio and growth temperature. InN nuclei density increases for several orders of magnitude with decreasing growth temperature between 525 and 375 degrees C. At lower growth temperatures, InN thin films take the form of small and closely packed islands with diameters less than 100 nm, whereas at elevated temperatures the InN islands grow larger and become well separated, approaching an equilibrium hexagonal shape due to enhanced surface diffusion of adatoms. The temperature dependence of InN island density gives two activation energies of InN nucleation behaviour, which is attributed to two different kinetic processes related to In adatom surface diffusion and desorption, respectively.

Ordered Zinc Antimonate Nanoisland Attachment and Morphology Control of ZnO Nanobelts by Sb Doping

Hierarchical heterostructures of zinc antimonate nanoislands on ZnO nanobelts were prepared by simple annealing of the polymeric precursor. Sb can promote the growth of ZnO nanobelts along the [552] direction because of the segregation of Sb dopants on the +(001) and (110) surfaces of ZnO nanobelts. Furthermore, the ordered nanoislands of toothlike ZnSb2O6 along the [001](ZnO) direction and rodlike Zn7Sb2O12 along the [110](ZnO) direction can be formed because of the match relation of the lattice and polar charges between ZnO and zinc antimonate. The incorporation of Sb in a ZnO lattice induces composition fluctuation, and the growth of zinc antimonate nanoislands on nanobelt sides induces interface fluctuation, resulting in dominance of the bound exciton transition in the room temperature near-band-edge (NBE) emission at relatively low excitation intensity. At high excitation intensity, however, Auger recombination makes photogenerated electrons release phonon and relax from the conduction band to the trap states, causing the NBE emission to gradually saturate and redshift with increasing excitation intensity. The green emission more reasonably originates from the recombination of electrons in shallow traps with doubly charged V-O** oxygen vacancies. Because a V-O** center can trap a photoactivated electron and change to a singly charged oxygen vacancy V-O* state, its emission intensity exhibits a maximum with increasing excitation intensity.

Hole Spin Relaxation in an Ultrathin InAs Monolayer

We investigate the spin relaxation time of holes in an ultrathin neutral InAs monolayer (1.5 ML) and compare with that of electrons, using polarization-dependent time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) experiments. With excitation energies above the GaAs gap, we observe a rather slow relaxation of holes (tau(1h) = 196 +/- 17 ps) that is in the magnitude similar to electrons (tau(1e) = 354 +/- 32 ps) in this ultrathin sample. The results are in good agreement with earlier theoretical prediction, and the phonon scattering due to spin-orbit coupling is realized to play a dominant role in the carrier spin kinetics.

Growth of nano-structures on composition-modulated InAlAs surfaces

InAs self-organized nanostructures were grown with variant deposition thickness and growth rate on closely matched InAlAs/InP by molecular-beam epitaxy. The structural properties. of InAs and InAlAs layer were studied. It is found that the InAs morphology is insensitive to the growth conditions. Transmission electron microscopy and reflectance difference spectroscopy measurements show that the InAlAs matrix presents lateral composition modulation which gives birth to surface anisotropy. Based on the dependence of the InAs morphology on the anisotropy of the InAlAs layer, a modified Stranski-Krastanow growth mode is presented to describe the growth of the nanostructure on a composition-modulated surface.

Liquid phase epitaxy of Al0.3Ga0.7As islands

Self-organized Al0.3Ga0.7As islands generated on the (100) facet are achieved by liquid phase epitaxy. Three particularly designed experimental conditions-partial oxidation, deficient solute and air quenching-result in defect-free nucleation. Micron-sized frustums and pyramids are observed by a scanning electron microscope. The sharp end of the tip has a radius of curvature less than 50 nm. It is proposed that such Al0.3Ga0.7As islands may be potentially serviceable in microscale and nanoscale fabrication and related spheres. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cleaved-edge overgrowth of aligned InAs islands on GaAs(110)

A novel approach for positioning InAs islands on GaAs(110) by cleaved-edge overgrowth is reported. The first growth sample contains a strained InxGa1-xAs/GaAs superlattice of varying indium fraction and thickness, which acts as a strain nanopattern for the cleaved edge overgrowth. The formation of aligned islands is observed by means of atomic force microscopy. The ordering of the aligned islands and the structure of a single InAs island are found to depend on the properties of the underlying InxGa1-xAs/GaAs superlattice and molecular beam epitaxy growth conditions.

Photoluminescence of low-dimensional semiconductor structures under pressure

Photoluminescence of some low-dimensional semiconductor structures has been investigated under pressure. The measured pressure coefficients of In0.55Al0.45 As/Al0.5Ga0.5As quantum dots with average diameter of 26, 52 and 62 nm are 82, 94 and 98 meV/GPa, respectively. It indicates that these quantum dots are type-I dots. On the other hand, the measured pressure coefficient for quantum dots with 7 nm in size is -17meV/GPa, indicating the type-II character. The measured pressure coefficient for Mn emission in ZnS:Mn nanoparticles is -34.6meV/GPa, in agreement with the predication of the crystal field theory. However, the DA emission is nearly independent on pressure, indicating that this emission is related to the surface defects in ZnS host. The measured pressure coefficient of Cu emission in ZnS: Cu nanoparticles is 63.2 meV/GPa. It implies that the acceptor level introduced by Cu ions has some character of shallow level. The measured pressure coefficient of Eu emission in ZnS:Eu nanoparticles is 24.1 mev/GPa, in contrast to the predication of the crystal field theory. It may be due to the strong interaction between the excited state of Eu ions and the conduction band of ZnS host.

Abnormal energy dependence of photoluminescence decay time in InGaN epilayer

We employ photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved PL to study exciton localization effect in InGaN epilayers. By measuring the exciton decay time as a, function of the monitored emission energy at different temperatures, we have found unusual behaviour of the energy dependence in the PL decay process. At low temperature, the measured PL decay time increases with the emission energy. It decreases with the emission energy at 200K, and remains nearly constant at the intermediate temperature of 120K. We have studied the dot size effect on the radiative recombination time by calculating the temperature dependence of the exciton recombination lifetime in quantum dots, and have found that the observed behaviour can be well correlated to the exciton localization in quantum dots. This suggestion is further supported by steady state PL results.

Field emission mechanism from a single-layer ultra-thin semiconductor film cathode

Field emission (FE) from a single-layer ultra-thin semiconductor film cathode (SUSC) on a metal substrate has been investigated theoretically. The self-consistent quantum FE model is developed by synthetically considering the energy band bending and electron scattering. As a typical example, we calculate the FE properties of ultra-thin A1N film with an adjustable film thickness from 1 to 10 nm. The calculated results show that the FE characteristic is evidently modulated by varying the film thickness, and there is an optimum thickness of about 3 nm. Furthermore, a four-step FE mechanism is suggested such that the distinct FE current of a SUSC is rooted in the thickness sensitivity of its quantum structure, and the optimum FE properties of the SUSC should be attributed to the change in the effective potential combined with the attenuation of electron scattering.

Evolution of InAs nanostructures grown by droplet epitaxy

The authors report the growth evolution of InAs dot and ring nanostructures with the indium deposition amount on GaAs (001) by droplet molecular beam epitaxy. There is a critical flux for the indium to form InAs dots even when there is no droplet. When the flux exceeds a critical value, In droplets form, which act as nucleation centers for the formation of InAs rings. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Spontaneous emission lifetime distribution of infinite line antennas in two-dimensional photonic crystals with finite size

The authors calculate the lifetime distribution functions of spontaneous emission from infinite line antennas embedded in two-dimensional disordered photonic crystals with finite size. The calculations indicate the coexistence of both accelerated and inhibited decay processes in disordered photonic crystals with finite size. The decay behavior of the spontaneous emission from infinite line antennas changes significantly by varying factors such as the line antennas' positions in the disordered photonic crystal, the shape of the crystal, the filling fraction, and the dielectric constant. Moreover, the authors analyze the effect of the degree of disorder on spontaneous emission. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Effect of the growth mode on the two- to three-dimensional transition of InAs grown on vicinal GaAs(001) substrates

Some differences were observed between conventional molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) and mobility enhanced epitaxy (MEE) of InAs on a vicinal GaAs(001) substrate in the variation of the number density N of the InAs islands, with additional InAs coverage (theta - theta(c)) after the critical InAs coverage theta(c) during the two- to three-dimensional (2D-3D) transition. For MBE the variation was consistent with the power law N(theta) (theta similar to theta(c))(alpha); while for MEE, the linear relation N(theta) proportional to (theta - theta(c)) was observed. The difference is discussed in terms of the randomness in the nucleation of the InAs islands.