Structure and photoluminescence study of InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots grown via cycled (InAs)(n)/(GaAs)(n) monolayer deposition

We report the morphology of an InGaAs nanostructure grown by molecular beam epitaxy via cycled (InAs)(n)/(GaAs)(n) monolayer deposition. Atomic force microscopy images clearly show that varying monolayer deposition per cycle has significant influence on the size, density and shape of the InGaAs nanostructure. Low-temperature photoluminescence spectra show the effect of n on the optical quality, and 1.35mum photoluminescence with a linewidth of only 19.2meV at room temperature has been achieved in the (InAs)(1)/(GaAs)(1) structure.

Temperature dependence of photoluminescence of flat and undulated SiGe/Si multiple quantum wells

Photoluminescence (PL) of strained SiGe/Si multiple quantum wells (MQW) with flat and undulated SiGe well layers was studied at different temperature. With elevated temperature from 10K, the no-phonon (NP) peak of the SiGe layers in the flat sample has firstly a blue shift due to the dominant transition converting from bound excitons (BE) to free excitons (FE), and then has a red shift when the temperature is higher than 30K because of the narrowing of the band gap. In the undulated sample, however, monotonous blue shift was observed as the temperature was elevated from 10 K to 287 K. The thermally activated electrons, confined in Si due to type-II band alignment, leak into the SiGe crest regions, and the leakage is enhanced with the elevated temperature. It results in a blue shift of the SiGe luminescence spectra.

Symmetry in the diagonal self-assembled InAs quantum wire arrays on InP substrate

Diagonal self-assembled InAs quantum wire (QWR) arrays with the stacked InAs/In0.52Al0.48As structure are grown on InP substrates, which are (001)-oriented and misoriented by 6degrees towards the [100] direction. Both the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and migration enhanced epitaxy (MEE) techniques are employed. Transmission electron microscopy reveals that whether a diagonal InAs QWR array of the stacked InAs/InAlAs is symmetrical about the growth direction or not depends on the growth method as well as substrate orientation. Asymmetry in the diagonal MEE-grown InAs QWR array can be ascribed to the influence of surface reconstruction on upward migration of adatoms during the self-assembly of the InAs quantum wires.

Electronic structure and optical properties of quantum rods with wurtzite structure

The Hamiltonian of the wurtzite quantum rods with an ellipsoidal boundary is given after a coordinate transformation. The energies, wave functions, and transition possibilities are obtained as functions of the aspect ratio e with the same method we used on spherical dots. With an overall consideration of both the transition matrix element and the Boltzmann distribution we explained why the polarization factor increases with increasing e and approaches a saturation value, which tallies quite well with the experimental result. When e increases more and more S-z states are mixed into the ground, second, and third states of J(z)=1/2, resulting in an increase of the emission of z polarization. It is just the linear terms of the momentum operator in the hole Hamiltonian that cause the mixing of S and P states in the hole ground state. The effects of the crystal field splitting energy, temperature, and transverse radius to the polarization are also considered. We also calculated the band gap variation with the size and shape of the quantum rods.

Anomalous temperature dependence of photoluminescence in GaInNAs/GaAs multiple quantum wells

Photoluminescence (PL) spectra of GaInNAs/GaAs multiple quantum wells grown on a GaAs substrate by molecular beam epitaxy are measured in a range of temperatures and excitation power densities. The energy position of the dominant PL peak shows an anomalous S-shape temperature dependence instead of the Varshni relation. By careful inspection, especially for the PL under lower excitation power density, two near bandedge peaks are well identified. These are assigned to carriers localized in nitrogen-induced bound states and interband excitonic recombinations, respectively. It is suggested that the temperature-induced switch of such two luminescence peaks in relative intensity causes a significant mechanism responsible for the S-shape shift observed in GaInNAs. A quantitative model based on the thermal depopulation of carriers is used to explain the temperature dependence of the PL peak related to N-induced bound states.

Collective and single-particle excitations in coupled quantum wires in magnetic fields

The full spectra of magnetoplasmons and single-particle excitations are obtained of coupled one-dimensional electron gases in parallel semiconductor quantum wires with tunneling. We show the effects of the interwire Coulomb interaction and the tunneling, as well as the magnetic-field-induced localization on the elementary excitations in symmetric and asymmetric coulped quantum wire structures. The interacton and resonance between the plasmon and the intersubband single-particle excitations are found in magnetic fields.

Lasing of CdSexS1-x quantum dots in a glass spherical microcavity

A glass spherical microcavity only a few microns in diameter embedded with CdSexS1-x quantum dots (QDs) was fabricated using a physical method; it exhibited good optical stability under continuous-wave laser excitation with high power. We investigated the excitation power dependences of the emission intensity and the linewidth of both transverse electric and transverse magnetic resonance peaks of whispering gallery modes. Stimulated emission behaviour of multi-frequency modes is observed at room temperature. The low threshold value and large mode separation makes QD-containing microspheres promising for visible microlaser applications.

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.

Impact of polarization on quasi-two-dimensional exciton and barrier-width dependence of the exciton associated transition in wurtzite III-V nitride quantum wells

Excitonic states in AlxGa1-xN/GaN quantum wells (QWs) are studied within the framework of effective-mass theory. Spontaneous and piezoelectric polarizations are included and their impact on the excitonic states and optical properties are studied. We witnessed a significant blue shift in transition energy when the barrier width decreases and we attributed this to the redistribution of the built-in electric field between well layers and barrier layers. For the exciton the binding energies, we found in narrow QWs that there exists a critical value for barrier width, which demarcates the borderline for quantum confinement effect and the quantum confined Stark effect. Exciton and free carrier radiative lifetimes are estimated by simple argumentation. The calculated results suggest that there are efficient non-radiative mechanisms in narrow barrier QWs. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optical and electrical characterizations of ZnSe self-organized quantum dots grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Optical and electrical properties of ZnSe self-organized quantum dots were investigated using photoluminescence, capacitance-voltage, and deep level transient Fourier spectroscopy techniques. The temperature dependence of photoluminescence was employed to clarify the mechanism of photoluminescence thermal quenching processes in ZnSe quantum dots. A theoretic fit on considering a two-step quenching processes well explained the experimental data. The apparent carrier concentration profile obtained from capacitance-voltage measurements exhibits an accumulation peak at the depth of about 100nm below the sample surface, which is in good agreement with the location of the quantum dot layer. The electronic ground state of ZnSe quantum dots is determined to be about 0.11 eV below the conduction band of ZnS, which is similar to that obtained by simulating the thermal quenching of ZnSe photoluminescence.

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.

Photoluminescence study of CdSexS1-x quantum dots in a glass spherical microcavity

The photoluminescence (PL) of CdSexS1-x semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) in a glass spherical microcavity is investigated. The CdSexS1-x semiconductor clusters embedded in a glass matrix are fabricated by using the heat treatment method. Periodical structures consisting of sharp spectral lines are observed in the PL spectra of CdSexS1-x QDs, which can be well explained by the coupling with the whispering gallery modes of the spherical microcavity based on Mie scattering theory.

Thermal redistribution of photocarriers between bimodal quantum dots

We study the photoluminescence (PL) properties of InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) by varying excitation power and temperature. Excitation power-dependent PL shows that there exists bimodal size distribution in the QD ensemble. Thermal carrier redistribution between the two branches of dots is observed and investigated in terms of the temperature dependence of their relative PL intensity. Based on a model in which carrier transfer between dots is facilitated by the wetting layer, the experimental results are well explained. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.

Self-assembled quantum dots, wires and quantum-dot lasers

Molecular beam epitaxy-grown self-assembled In(Ga)As/GaAs and InAs/InAlAs/InP quantum dots (QDs) and quantum wires (QWRs) have been studied. By adjusting growth conditions, surprising alignment. preferential elongation, and pronounced sequential coalescence of dots and wires under specific condition are realized. The lateral ordering of QDs and the vertical anti-correlation of QWRs are theoretically discussed. Room-temperature (RT) continuous-wave (CW) lasing at the wavelength of 960 nm with output power of 3.6 W from both uncoated facets is achieved fi-om vertical coupled InAs/GaAs QDs ensemble. The RT threshold current density is 218 A/cm(2). A RT CW output power of 0.6 W/facet ensures at least 3570 h lasing (only drops 0.83 dB). (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V, All rights reserved.

Properties and turning of intraband optical absorption in InxGa1-xAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dot superlattice

We investigated properties of intraband absorption in In-x Ga1-xAs quantum dots (QDs) superlattice. Energy levels in conduction band in QDs were calculated for a cone-shaped quantum dot associated with coupling between QDs in the framework of the effective-mass envelope-function theory. Theoretical results demonstrated that energy levels in conduction band were greatly affected by the vertical coupling between quantum dots, which can be used to modify transition wavelength by adjusting the space layer thickness. Intraband transition is really sensitive to normal incidence and the absorption peak intensity is dependent on the polarization. A satisfying agreement is found between theoretical and experimental values. This result opens up prospects for the fabrication of QDs infrared detectors, which work at atmospheric windows.