Violet electroluminescence of AlInGaN-InGaN multiquantum-well light-emitting diodes: Quantum-confined stark effect and heating effect

Electroluminescence (EL) from AlInGaN-InGaN multiquantum-well violet light-emitting diodes is investigated as a function of forward bias. Two distinct regimes have been identified: 1) quantum-confined Stark effect at low and moderately high forward biases; 2) heating effect at high biases. In the different regimes, the low-temperature EL spectra exhibit different spectral features which are discussed in detail.

Energy of a polaron in a wurtzite nitride finite parabolic quantum well

The effects of electron-phonon interaction oil energy levels of a. polaron in a wurtzite nitride finite parabolic quantum well (PQW) are studied by using a modified Lee-Low-Pines variational method. The ground state, first excited state, and transition energy of the polaron in the GaN/Al0.3Ga0.7N wurtzite PQW are calculated by taking account of the influence of confined LO(TO)-like phonon modes and the half-space LO(TO)-like phonon modes and considering the anisotropy of all kinds of phonon modes. The numerical results are given and discussed. The results show that the electron phonon interaction strongly affects the energy levels of the polaron, and the contributions from phonons to the energy of a polaron hi a wurtzite nitride PQW are greater than that in all AlGaAs PQW. This indicates that the electron-phonon interaction in a wurtzite nitride PQW is not negligible.

Metamorphic growth of 1.25-1.29 mu m InGaAs quantum well lasers on GaAs by molecular beam epitaxy

We demonstrate 1.25-1.29 mu m metamorphic laser diodes grown on GaAs by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) using an alloy-graded buffer layer (GBL). Use of Be in the GBL is effective to reduce surface/interface roughness and improves optical quality. The RMS surface roughness of the optimized metamorphic laser is only two atomic monolayers for 1 x 1 mu m(2). Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images confirm that most dislocations are blocked in the GBL. Ridge waveguide lasers with 4 mu m wide ridge were fabricated and characterized. The average threshold current under the pulsed excitation is in 170-200 mA for a cavity length of 0.9-1.5 mm. This value can be further reduced to about 100 mA by high-reflectivity coating. Lasers can work in an ambient temperature up to at least 50 degrees C. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A short carrier lifetime semiconductor optical amplifier with n-type modulation-doped multiple quantum well structure

Semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) with n-type modulation-doped multiple quantum well structure have been investigated. The shortened carrier lifetime is derived from the PL spectrum and electrical modulation frequency response measurement. The carrier lifetime in semiconductor optical amplifiers with any n-type-2-modulated doping multiple quantum well structure is less than 60% of that in the undoped partner. The shortest measured carrier lifetime of 236 ps in the MD-MQW SOA with sheet carrier density of 3 x 10(12) cm(-2) was only 38% of that in the undoped MQW SOA, which can increase the wavelength conversion efficiency via four wave mixing by a factor of about 7 and switching speed via XGM and XPM applications by a factor of 2.63.

The influence of internal electric fields on the transition energy of InGaN/gaN quantum well

We present a new way to meet the amount of strain relaxation in an InGaN quantum well layer grown on relaxed GaN by calculating and measuring its internal field. With perturbation theory, we also calculate the transition energy of InGaN/GaN SQWs as affected by internal fields. The newly reported experimental data by Graham et al. fit our calculations well on the assumption that the InGaN well layer suffered a 20% strain relaxation, we discuss the differences between our calculated results and the experimental data. Our calculation suggests that with the increase of indium mole fraction in the InGaN/GaN quantum well, the effect of polarization fields on the luminescence of the quantum well will increase. Moreover, our calculation also suggests that an increase in the quantum well width by only one monolayer can result in a large reduction in the transition energy. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Characteristics of InGaN multiple quantum well blue-violet laser diodes

Studies on InGaN multiple quantum well blue-violet laser diodes have been reported. Laser structures with long-period multiple quantum wells were grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Triple-axis X-ray diffraction (TAXRD) measurements show that the multiple quantum wells were high quality. Ridge waveguide laser diodes were fabricated with cleaved facet mirrors. The laser diodes lase at room temperature under a pulsed current. A threshold current density of 3.3 kA/cm(2) and a characteristic temperature To of 145 K were observed for the laser diode.

Unselective regrowth of 1.5-mu m InGaAsP multiple-quantum-well distributed-feedback buried heterostructure lasers

Unselective regrowth for fabricating 1.5-mu m InGaAsP multiple-quantum well (MQW) distributed-feedback (DFB) buried heterostructure (BH) lasers is developed. The experimental results exhibit superior characteristics, such as a low threshold of 8.5 mA, high slope efficiency of 0.55 mW/mA, circular-like far-field patterns, the narrow line-width of 2.5 MHz, etc. The high performance of the devices effectively proves the feasibility of the new method to fabricate buried heterostructure lasers. (c) 2006 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

Thermal lensing effect in ridge structure InGaN multiple quantum well laser diodes

Time-resolved light-current curves, spectra, and far-field distributions of ridge structure InGaN multiple quantum well laser diodes grown on sapphire substrate are measured with a temporal resolution of 0.1 ns under a pulsed current condition. Results show that the thermal lensing effect clearly improves the confinement of the higher order modes. The thermal lens leads to a lower threshold current for the higher order modes, a higher slope efficiency, and a change in the lasing mode of the device. The threshold current for the higher modes decreases by about 5 mA in every 10 ns in a pulse, and the slope efficiency increases by 7.5 times on the average when higher modes lase. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Influence of GaAsP insertion layers on performance of InGaAsP/InGaP/AlGaAs quantum-well laser

We report on the use of very thin GaAsP insertion layers to improve the performance of an InGaAsP/InGaP/AlGaAs single quantum-well laser structure grown by metal organic chemical vapour deposition. Compared to the non-insertion structure, the full width at half maximum of photoluminescence spectrum of the insertion structure measured at room temperature is decreased from 47 to 38 nm indicating sharper interfaces. X-ray diffraction shows that the GaAsP insertion layers between AlGaAs and InGaP compensates for the compressive strain to improve the total interface. The laser performance of the insertion structure is significantly improved as compared with the counterpart without the insertion layers. The threshold current is decreased from 560 to 450mA while the slope efficiency is increased from 0.61 to 0.7W/A and the output power is increased from 370 to 940mW. The slope efficiency improved is very high for the devices without coated facets. The improved laser performance is attributed to the suppression of indium carry-over due to the use of the GaAsP insertion layers.

Thermal stress analysis for GaInAsP multiple quantum well wafer chemically bonded to Si (100)

An n-InP-based InGaAsP multiple-quantum-well wafer was bonded with p-Si by chemical surface activated bonding at 70 degrees C, and then annealed at 450 degrees C. Different thermal expansion coefficients between InP and Si will induce thermal stresses in the bonded wafer. Planar and cross-sectional distributions of thermal stress in the bonded InP-Si pairs were analyzed by a two-dimensional finite element method. In addition, the normal, peeling, and shear stresses were calculated by an analytic method. Furthermore, x-ray double crystalline diffraction was applied to measure the thermal strain and the strain caused by the mismatching of the crystalline orientation between InP (100) and Si (100). The wavelength redshift of the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum due to thermal strain was investigated via the calculation of the band structure, which is in agreement with the measured PL spectra.

Photocurrent response in a double barrier structure with quantum dots-quantum well inserted in central well

We report the photocurrent response in a double barrier structure with quantum dots-quantum well inserted in central well. When this quantum dots-quantum well hybrid heterostructure is biased beyond + 1 or -I V, the photocurrent response manifests itself as a steplike enhancement, increasing linearly with the light intensity. Most probably, at proper bias condition, the pulling down of the X minimum of GaAs at the outgoing interface of the emitter barrier by the photovoltaic effect in GaAs QW will initiate the r,-X-X tunneling at much lower bias as compared with that in the dark. That gives rise to the observed photocurrent response. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Stochastic resonance in quantum-well semiconductor lasers

The quantum well (QW) semiconductor lasers have become main optical sources for optical fibre communication systems because of their higher modulation speed, broader modulation bandwidth and better temperature characteristics. In order to improve the quality of direct-modulation by means of the stochastic resonance (SR) mechanism in QW semiconductor lasers, we investigate the behaviour of the SR in direct-modulated QW semiconductor laser systems. Considering the cross-correlated carrier noise and photon noise, we calculate the power spectrum of the photon density and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the direct-modulated laser system by using the linear approximation method. The results indicate that the SR always appears in the dependence of the SNR on the bias current density, and is strongly affected by the cross-correlation coefficient of the carrier and photon noises, the frequency of modulation signal, and the photon lifetime in the laser cavity.

The role of Sb in the molecular beam epitaxy growth of 1.30-1.55 mu m wavelength GaInNAs/GaAs quantum well with high indium content

Sb-assisted GaInNAs/GaAs quantum wells (QWs) with high (42.5%) indium content were investigated systematically. Transmission electron microscopy, reflection high-energy electron diffraction and photoluminescence (PL) measurements reveal that Sb acts as a surfactant to suppress three-dimensional growth. The improvement in the 1.55 mu m range is much more apparent than that in the 1.3 mu m range.. which can be attributed to the difference in N composition. The PL intensity and the full-width at half maximum of the 1.55 mu m single-QW were comparable with that of the 1.3 Am QWs. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A 1.5 mu m n-type InGaAsP/InGaAsP modulation-doped multiple quantum well DFB laser by MOCVD

1.5 mu m n-type InGaAsP/InGaAsP modulation-doped multiple quantum well (MD-MQW) DFB lasers have been fabricated successfully by low pressure metal organic chemical vapour deposition (LP-MOCVD) technology. The experimental results indicate that n-type MD-MQWs can effectively reduce the threshold Current compared with conventional multiple quantum well DFB lasers. Theoretical analysis indicates that such an effect is due to the much smaller absorption loss and lower Auger recombination, compared with that in an undoped MQW structure. Moreover, the introduction of n-type dopant of suitable levels of concentration in the barrier layers enhances the dynamic characteristics of DFB lasers, due to a coupling between the adjacent quantum well layers and tunnelling-assisted injection, which can reduce the relatively long capture time and increase the effective differential gain 1/X dG/dn .

Magneto-transport characteristics of two-dimensional electron gas for Si delta-doped InAlAs/InGaAs single quantum well

Magneto-transport measurements have been carried out on a Si heavily delta-doped In0.52Al0.48As/In(0.53)G(0.47)As single quantum well in the temperature range between 1.5 and 60 K under magnetic field up to 10 T. We studied the Shubnikov-de Haas(SdH) effect and the Hall effect for the In0.52Al0.48As/In(0.53)G(0.47)As single quantum well occupied by two subbands, and have obtained the electron concentration, mobility, effective mass and energy levels respectively. The electron concentrations of the two subbands derived from mobility spectrum combined with multi-carrier fitting analysis are well consistent with the result from the SdH oscillation. From fast Fourier transform analysis for d(2)rho/dB(2)-1/B, it is observed that there is a frequency of f(1)-f(2) insensitive to the temperature, besides the frequencies f(1), f(2) for the two subbands and the frequency doubling 2f(1), both dependent on the temperature. This is because That the electrons occupying the two different subbands almost have the same effective mass in the quantum well and the magneto-intersubband scattering between the two subbands is strong.