Effects of polarization field on formation of two-dimensional electron gas in (0001) and (11(2)over-bar0) plane AlGaN/GaN heterostructures

Photoluminescence (PL) and temperature-dependent Hall effect measurements were carried out in (0001) and (11 (2) over bar0) AlGaN/GaN heterostructures grown on sapphire substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. There are strong spontaneous and piezoelectric electric fields (SPF) along the growth orientation of the (0001) AlGaN/GaN heterostructures. At the same time there are no corresponding SPF along that of the (1120) AlGaN/GaN. A strong PL peak related to the recombination between two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) and photoexcited holes was observed at 3.258 eV at room temperature in (0001) AlGaN/GaN heterointerfaces while no corresponding PL peak was observed in (11 (2) over bar0). The existence of a 2DEG was observed in (0001) AlGaN/GaN multi-layers with a mobility saturated at 6000 cm(2)/V s below 80 K, whereas a much lower mobility was measured in (11 (2) over bar0). These results indicated that the SPF was the main element to cause the high mobility and high sheet-electron-density 2DEG in AlGaN/GaN heterostructures. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of shape and magnetic field on the optical properties of wurtzite quantum rods

The optical properties of quantum rods in the absence and presence of the magnetic field are studied in the framework of effective-mass envelope function theory. The two-dimensional (2D) and 1D transition dipoles of wurtzite quantum rods are investigated. It is found that the transition dipoles change from 2D to 1D as the aspect ratio of the ellipsoid increases, in agreement with the experimental results. The linear polarization factors of optical transitions of quantum rods with critical aspect ratio are zero at every orientation of the wave propagation. So quantum rods with critical aspect ratio have isotropic transition dipoles. Due to the 2D or 1D transition dipoles, the linear polarization factors of optical transitions of quantum rods change from negative or positive values to zero as the orientation of the wave propagation changes from the x axis of the crystal structure to the z axis, in agreement with the experimental results. Under magnetic field applied along the z axis of the crystal structure, the negative linear polarization factors in the 2D transition dipole case decrease as the magnetic field increases, while under magnetic field applied along the x axis, the negative linear polarization factors increase as the magnetic field increases. The antisymmetric Hamiltonian is very important to these effects of the magnetic field. It is found that quantum rods with a given radius at a given temperature have dark excitons in a range of aspect ratio. The dimensions along the x, y axes of the crystal structure play opposite roles to the dimension along the z axis on the dark exciton phenomenon. Dark excitons become bright under appropriate magnetic field.

Synthesis and optical properties of europium-doped ZnS: Long-lasting phosphorescence from aligned nanowires

Quasi-aligned Eu2+-doped wurtzite ZnS nanowires on Au-coated Si wafers have been successfully synthesized by a vapor deposition method under a weakly reducing atmosphere. Compared with the undoped counterpart, incorporation of the dopant gives a modulated composition and crystal structure, which leads to a preferred growth of the nanowires along the [0110] direction and a high density of defects in the nanowire hosts. The ion doping causes intense fluorescence and persistent phosphorescence in ZnS nanowires. The dopant Eu2+ ions form an isoelectronic acceptor level and yield a high density of bound excitions, which contribute to the appearance of the radiative recombination emission of the bound excitons and resonant Raman scattering at higher pumping intensity. Co-dopant Cl- ions can serve not only as donors, producing a donor-acceptor pair transition with the Eu2+ acceptor level, but can also form trap levels together with other defects, capture the photoionization electrons of Eu2+, and yield long-lasting (about 4 min), green phosphorescence. With decreasing synthesis time, the existence of more surface states in the nanowires forms a higher density of trap centers and changes the crystal-field strength around Eu2+. As a result, not only have an enhanced Eu2+ -4f(6)5d(1)-4f(7) intra-ion transition and a prolonged afterglow time been more effectively observed (by decreasing the nanowires' diameters), but also the Eu2+ related emissions are shifted to shorter wavelengths.

Time-resolved photoluminescence of sub-monolayer InGaAs/GaAs quantum-dot-quantum-well heterostructures

Time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) of sub-monolayer (SML) InGaAs/GaAs quantum-dot-quantum-well heterostructures was measured at 5 K for the first time. The radiative lifetime of SML quantum dots (QDs) increases from 500 ps to 800 ps with the increase of the size of QDs, which is related to the small confinement energy of the excitons inside SML QDs and the exciton transfer from smaller QDs to larger ones through tunneling. The rise time of quantum-dot state PL signal strongly depends on the excitation power density. At low excitation power density, the rise time is about 35 ps, the mechanism of carrier capture is dominated by the emission of longitudinal-optical phonons. At high excitation power density, the rise time decreases as the excitation density increases, and Auger process plays an important role in the carrier capture. These results are very useful for understanding the working properties of sub-monolayer quantum-dot devices.

Thermal quenching of luminescence from buried and surface InGaAs self-assembled quantum dots with high sheet density

Variable-temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra of Si-doped self-assembled InGaAs quantum dots (QDs) with and without GaAs cap layers were measured. Narrow and strong emission peak at 1075 nm and broad and weak peak at 1310 nm were observed for the buried and surface QDs at low temperature, respectively. As large as 210 meV redshift of the PL peak of the surface QDs with respect to that of the buried QDs is mainly due to the change of the strain around QDs before and after growth of the GaAs cap layer. Using the developed localized-state luminescence model, we quantitatively calculate the temperature dependence of PL peaks and integrated intensities of the two samples. The results reveal that there exists a large difference in microscopic mechanisms of PL thermal quenching between two samples. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.

Effects of magnetic field on the electronic structure of wurtzite quantum dots: Calculations using effective-mass envelope function theory

The Hamiltonian of the wurtzite quantum dots in the presence of an external homogeneous magnetic field is given. The electronic structure and optical properties are studied in the framework of effective-mass envelope function theory. The energy levels have new characteristics, such as parabolic property, antisymmtric splitting, and so on, different from the Zeeman splitting. With the crystal field splitting energy Delta(c)=25 meV, the dark excitons appear when the radius is smaller than 25.85 A in the absence of external magnetic field. This result is more consistent with the experimental results reported by Efros [Phys. Rev. B 54, 4843 (1996)]. It is found that dark excitons become bright under appropriate magnetic field depending on the radius of dots. The circular polarization factors of the optical transitions of randomly oriented dots are zero in the absence of external magnetic field and increase with the increase of magnetic field, in agreement with the experimental results. The circular polarization factors of single dots change from nearly 0 to about 1 as the orientation of the magnetic field changes from the x axis of the crystal structure to the z axis, which can be used to determine the orientation of the z axis of the crystal structure of individual dots. The antisymmetric Hamiltonian is very important to the effects of magnetic field on the circular polarization of the optical transition of quantum dots.

Observation of intershell and hybridized energy states in InAs/GaAs quantum dots

We have investigated the evolution of exciton state filling as a function of excitation power density in InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs). In addition to the emission bands of exciton recombination corresponding to the atom-like S, P, and D, etc. shells of quantum dots, it was observed that some extra states, P-' (between the S and P shells) and D-' (between the P and D shells), appear in the spectra with increasing number of excitons occupying the QDs. The emergence of these intershell excitonic levels is an experimental demonstration of strong exciton-exciton exchange interaction and coupling as well as state mixing and hybridization of a multiexciton system in quantum dots.

Excitonic energy of vertically stacked self-assmbled InAs quantum dots

We have studied the exciton states in vertically stacked self-assembled quantum disks within the effective mass approximation. The energy spectrum of the electron and hole is calculated using the transfer matrix formalism in the adiabatic approximation. The Coulomb interaction between the electron and the hole is treated accurately by the direct diagonalization of the Hamiltonian matrix. The effect of the vertical alignment of the disks on the ground energy of heavy- and light-hole exciton is presented and discussed. The binding energy is discussed in terms of the probability of the ground wave function. The ground energy of heavy- and light-hole excitons as a function of the magnetic field is presented and the effect of the disk size (the radius of disks) on the exciton energy is discussed.

Pressure behaviour of the UV and green emission bands in ZnO micro-rods

The pressure behavior of the ultraviolet (UV) and green emission bands in ZnO tetrapod-like micro-rods has been investigated at 300 and 70 K, respectively. The pressure coefficient of the UV band at 300 K is 24.5 meV/GPa, consistent with that of the band gap of bulk ZnO. However, the pressure coefficient of the green band is 25 meV/GPa, far larger than previous literature reports. The green band in this work originates from Cu-related emission, as confirmed by the fine structure observed in the spectra at 10 K. The pressure coefficients of four phonon replicas of the free exciton emission (FX) at 70 K are 21.0, 20.2, 19.8, and 19.3 meV/GPa, respectively. The energy shift rate of the FX emission and the LO phonon energies is then determined to be 21.4 and 0.55 meV/GPa. The pressure coefficient of the neutral donor bound exciton ((DX)-X-0) transition is 20.5 meV/GPa, only 4% smaller than that of FX. This confirms that the (DX)-X-0 emission corresponds to excitons bound to neutral shallow donors. (C) 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Exciton localization due to isoelectronic substitution in ZnSTe

We have systematically investigated the optical properties of isoelectronic centers (IECs) of ZnSTe in the whole composition range from ZnS to ZnTe. In the S-rich ZnSTe photoluminescence is dominated by Te-bound excitons, while in Te-rich side, S-related bound exciton emission dominates the radiative recombination. Localization nature of IEC bound exciton emissions in both S-rich and Te-rich side ZnSTe alloys are studied in detail. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Photoinduced spin alignment of the magnetic ions in (Ga,Mn)As

Time-resolved Kerr rotation measurement in the (Ga,Mn)As diluted magnetic semiconductor allows direct observation of the dynamical properties of the spin system of the magnetic ions and the spin-polarized holes. Experimental results show that the magnetic ions can be aligned by the polarized holes, and the time scales of spin alignment and relaxation take place in tens and hundreds of picoseconds, respectively. The Larmor frequency and effective g factor obtained in the Voigt geometry show an unusual temperature dependence in the vicinity of the Curie temperature due to the exchange coupling between the photoexcited holes and magnetic ions. Such a spin coherent precession can be amplified or destructed by two sequential excitation pulses with circularly copolarized or oppositely polarized helicity, respectively. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Electronic structure and g factors of narrow-gap zinc-blende nanowires and nanorods

The Hamiltonian in the framework of eight-band effective-mass approximation of the zinc-blende nanowires and nanorods in the presence of external homogeneous magnetic field is given in the cylindrical coordinate. The electronic structure, optical properties, magnetic energy levels, and g factors of the nanowires and nanorods are calculated. It is found that the electron states consist of many hole-state components, due to the coupling of the conduction band and valence band. For the normal bands which are monotone functions of |k(z)|, long nanorods can be modeled by the nanowires, the energy levels of the nanorods approximately equal the values of the energy band E(k(z)) of the nanowires with the same radius at a special k(z), where k(z) is the wave vector in the wire direction. Due to the coupling of the states, some of the hole energy bands of the nanowires have their highest points at k(z)=0. Especially, the highest hole state of the InSb nanowires is not at the k(z)=0 point. It is an indirect band gap. For these abnormal bands, nanorods can not be modeled by the nanowires. The energy levels of the nanorods show an interesting plait-like pattern. The linear polarization factor is zero, when the aspect ratio L/2R is smaller than 1, and increases as the length increases. The g(z) and g(x) factors as functions of the k(z), radius R and length L are calculated for the wires and rods, respectively. For the wires, the g(z) of the electron ground state increases, and the g(z) of the hole ground state decreases first, then increases with the k(z) increasing. For the rods, the g(z) and g(x) of the electron ground state decrease as the R or the L increases. The g(x) of the hole ground state decreases, the g(z) of the hole ground state increases with the L increasing. The variation of the g(z) of the wires with the k(z) is in agreement with the variation of the g(z) of the rods with the L.

Exciton states of vertically stacked self-assembled InAs quantum disks in an axial magnetic field

We have studied the exciton states of vertically stacked self-assembled quantum disks within the effective mass approximation. The ground energies of a heavy-hole and a light-hole excitons as functions of the vertical disk separation are presented and discussed. The transition energy of a heavy-hole ground-state exciton is calculated and compared with the experimental data. The binding energies are discussed in terms of the probability of ground wave function. The ground energies of a heavy-hole and a light-hole excitons as functions of the applied axial magnetic field are calculated and the effect of disk size (radius of disks) on exciton energies is discussed. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Lifetime study of N impurity states in GaAs1-xNx (x=0.1%) under hydrostatic pressure

The lifetimes of a series of N-related photoluminescence lines (A(2)-A(6)) in GaAs1-xNx (x=0.1%) were studied under hydrostatic pressures at similar to 30 K. The lifetimes of A(5) and A(6) were found to increase rapidly with increasing pressure: from 2.1 ns at 0 GPa to more than 20 ns at 0.92 GPa for A(5) and from 3.2 ns at 0.63 GPa to 10.8 ns at 0.92 GPa for A(6). The lifetime is found to be closely correlated with the binding energy of the N impurity states, which is shown either in the pressure dependence for a given emission line or in the lifetime variation from A(2) to A(6). (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Temperature and power-density-dependent inter-shell energy states in InAs/GaAs quantum dots

We have investigated the evolution of exciton state filling in InAs/GaAs quantum dot (QD) structures as a function of the excitation power density by using rnicro-photoluminescence spectroscopy at different temperatures. In addition to the emission bands of exciton recombination corresponding to the atom-like S, P and D, etc. shells of QDs, it was observed that some extra states V between the S and P shells, and D' between the P and D shells appear in the spectra with increasing number of excitons occupying the QDs at a certain temperature. The emergence of these inter-shell excitonic levels is power density and temperature dependent, which is an experimental demonstration of strong exciton-exciton exchange interaction, state hybridization, and coupling of a multi-exciton system in QDs. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.