High-Speed Semiconductor Lasers based on Low-Dimensional Active Materials for Optical Telecommunication

The scope of this work is the fundamental growth, tailoring and characterization of self-organized indium arsenide quantum dots (QDs) and their exploitation as active region for diode lasers emitting in the 1.55 µm range. This wavelength regime is especially interesting for long-haul telecommunications as optical fibers made from silica glass have the lowest optical absorption. Molecular Beam Epitaxy is utilized as fabrication technique for the quantum dots and laser structures. The results presented in this thesis depict the first experimental work for which this reactor was used at the University of Kassel. Most research in the field of self-organized quantum dots has been conducted in the InAs/GaAs material system. It can be seen as the model system of self-organized quantum dots, but is not suitable for the targeted emission wavelength. Light emission from this system at 1.55 µm is hard to accomplish. To stay as close as possible to existing processing technology, the In(AlGa)As/InP (100) material system is deployed. Depending on the epitaxial growth technique and growth parameters this system has the drawback of producing a wide range of nano species besides quantum dots. Best known are the elongated quantum dashes (QDash). Such structures are preferentially formed, if InAs is deposited on InP. This is related to the low lattice-mismatch of 3.2 %, which is less than half of the value in the InAs/GaAs system. The task of creating round-shaped and uniform QDs is rendered more complex considering exchange effects of arsenic and phosphorus as well as anisotropic effects on the surface that do not need to be dealt with in the InAs/GaAs case. While QDash structures haven been studied fundamentally as well as in laser structures, they do not represent the theoretical ideal case of a zero-dimensional material. Creating round-shaped quantum dots on the InP(100) substrate remains a challenging task. Details of the self-organization process are still unknown and the formation of the QDs is not fully understood yet. In the course of the experimental work a novel growth concept was discovered and analyzed that eases the fabrication of QDs. It is based on different crystal growth and ad-atom diffusion processes under supply of different modifications of the arsenic atmosphere in the MBE reactor. The reactor is equipped with special valved cracking effusion cells for arsenic and phosphorus. It represents an all-solid source configuration that does not rely on toxic gas supply. The cracking effusion cell are able to create different species of arsenic and phosphorus. This constitutes the basis of the growth concept. With this method round-shaped QD ensembles with superior optical properties and record-low photoluminescence linewidth were achieved. By systematically varying the growth parameters and working out a detailed analysis of the experimental data a range of parameter values, for which the formation of QDs is favored, was found. A qualitative explanation of the formation characteristics based on the surface migration of In ad-atoms is developed. Such tailored QDs are finally implemented as active region in a self-designed diode laser structure. A basic characterization of the static and temperature-dependent properties was carried out. The QD lasers exceed a reference quantum well laser in terms of inversion conditions and temperature-dependent characteristics. Pulsed output powers of several hundred milli watt were measured at room temperature. In particular, the lasers feature a high modal gain that even allowed cw-emission at room temperature of a processed ridge wave guide device as short as 340 µm with output powers of 17 mW. Modulation experiments performed at the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) showed a complex behavior of the QDs in the laser cavity. Despite the fact that the laser structure is not fully optimized for a high-speed device, data transmission capabilities of 15 Gb/s combined with low noise were achieved. To the best of the author`s knowledge, this renders the lasers the fastest QD devices operating at 1.55 µm. The thesis starts with an introductory chapter that pronounces the advantages of optical fiber communication in general. Chapter 2 will introduce the fundamental knowledge that is necessary to understand the importance of the active region`s dimensions for the performance of a diode laser. The novel growth concept and its experimental analysis are presented in chapter 3. Chapter 4 finally contains the work on diode lasers.

Magnetic interactions between transition metal impurities and clusters mediated by low-dimensional metallic hosts: A first principles theoretical investigation

The magnetic properties and interactions between transition metal (TM) impurities and clusters in low-dimensional metallic hosts are studied using a first principles theoretical method. In the first part of this work, the effect of magnetic order in 3d-5d systems is addressed from the perspective of its influence on the enhancement of the magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE). In the second part, the possibility of using external electric fields (EFs) to control the magnetic properties and interactions between nanoparticles deposited at noble metal surfaces is investigated. The influence of 3d composition and magnetic order on the spin polarization of the substrate and its consequences on the MAE are analyzed for the case of 3d impurities in one- and two-dimensional polarizable hosts. It is shown that the MAE and easy- axis of monoatomic free standing 3d-Pt wires is mainly determined by the atomic spin-orbit (SO) coupling contributions. The competition between ferromagnetic (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AF) order in FePtn wires is studied in detail for n=1-4 as a function of the relative position between Fe atoms. Our results show an oscillatory behavior of the magnetic polarization of Pt atoms as a function of their distance from the magnetic impurities, which can be correlated to a long-ranged magnetic coupling of the Fe atoms. Exceptionally large variations of the induced spin and orbital moments at the Pt atoms are found as a function of concentration and magnetic order. Along with a violation of the third Hund’s rule at the Fe sites, these variations result in a non trivial behavior of the MAE. In the case of TM impurities and dimers at the Cu(111), the effects of surface charging and applied EFs on the magnetic properties and substrate-mediated magnetic interactions have been investigated. The modifications of the surface electronic structure, impurity local moments and magnetic exchange coupling as a result of the EF-induced metallic screening and charge rearrangements are analysed. In a first study, the properties of surface substitutional Co and Fe impurities are investigated as a function of the external charge per surface atom q. At large inter-impurity distances the effective magnetic exchange coupling ∆E between impurities shows RKKY-like oscillations as a function of the distance which are not significantly affected by the considered values of q. For distances r < 10 Å, important modifications in the magnitude of ∆E, involving changes from FM to AF coupling, are found depending non-monotonously on the value and polarity of q. The interaction energies are analysed from a local perspective. In a second study, the interplay between external EF effects, internal magnetic order and substrate-mediated magnetic coupling has been investigated for Mn dimers on Cu(111). Our calculations show that EF (∼ 1eV/Å) can induce a switching from AF to FM ground-state magnetic order within single Mn dimers. The relative coupling between a pair of dimers also shows RKKY-like oscillations as a function of the inter-dimer distance. Their effective magnetic exchange interaction is found to depend significantly on the magnetic order within the Mn dimers and on their relative orientation on the surface. The dependence of the substrate-mediated interaction on the magnetic state of the dimers is qualitatively explained in terms of the differences in the scattering of surface electrons. At short inter-dimer distances, the ground-state configuration is determined by an interplay between exchange interactions and EF effects. These results demonstrate that external surface charging and applied EFs offer remarkable possibilities of manipulating the sign and strength of the magnetic coupling of surface supported nanoparticles.

Physik der Elektronen in Nanostrukturen und niedrigdimensionalen Systemen - Studie zweier Beispiele

Als Beispiele für die vielfältigen Phänomene der Physik der Elektronen in niedrigdimensionalen Systemen wurden in dieser Arbeit das Cu(110)(2x1)O-Adsorbatsystem und die violette Li0.9Mo6O17-Bronze untersucht. Das Adsorbatsystem bildet selbstorganisierte quasi-eindimensionale Nanostrukturen auf einer Kupferoberfläche. Die Li-Bronze ist ein Material, das aufgrund seiner Kristallstruktur quasi-eindimensionale elektronische Eigenschaften im Volumen aufweist. Auf der Cu(110)(2x1)O-Oberfläche kann durch Variation der Sauerstoffbedeckung die Größe der streifenartigen CuO-Domänen geändert werden und damit der Übergang von zwei Dimensionen auf eine Dimension untersucht werden. Der Einfluss der Dimensionalität wurde anhand eines unbesetzten elektronischen Oberflächenzustandes studiert. Dessen Energieposition (untere Bandkante) verschiebt mit zunehmender Einschränkung (schmalere CuO-Streifen) zu größeren Energien hin. Dies ist ein bekannter quantenmechanischer Effekt und relativ gut verstanden. Zusätzlich wurde die Lebensdauer des Zustandes auf der voll bedeckten Oberfläche (zwei Dimensionen) ermittelt und deren Veränderung mit der Breite der CuO-Streifen untersucht. Es zeigt sich, dass die Lebensdauer auf schmaleren CuO-Streifen drastisch abnimmt. Dieses Ergebnis ist neu. Es kann im Rahmen eines Fabry-Perot-Modells als Streuung in Zustände außerhalb der CuO-Streifen verstanden werden. Außer den gerade beschriebenen Effekten war es möglich die Ladungsdichte des diskutierten Zustandes orts- und energieabhängig auf den CuO-Streifen zu studieren. Die Li0.9Mo6O17-Bronze wurde im Hinblick auf das Verhalten der elektronischen Zustandsdichte an der Fermikante untersucht. Diese Fragestellung ist besonders wegen der Quasieindimensionalität des Materials interessant. Die Messungen von STS-Spektren in der Nähe der Fermienergie zeigen, dass die Elektronen in der Li0.9Mo6O17-Bronze eine sogenannte Luttingerflüssigkeit ausbilden, die anstatt einer Fermiflüssigkeit in eindimensionalen elektronischen Systemen erwartet wird. Bisher wurde Luttingerflüssigkeitsverhalten erst bei wenigen Materialien und Systemen experimentell nachgewiesen, obschon die theoretischen Voraussagen mehr als 30 Jahre zurückliegen. Ein Charakteristikum einer Luttingerflüssigkeit ist die Abnahme der Zustandsdichte an der Fermienergie mit einem Potenzgesetz. Dieses Verhalten wurde in STS-Spektren dieser Arbeit beobachtet und quantitativ im Rahmen eines Luttingerflüssigkeitsmodells beschrieben. Auch die Temperaturabhängigkeit des Phänomens im Bereich von 5K bis 55K ist konsistent mit der Beschreibung durch eine Luttingerflüssigkeit. Generell zeigen die Untersuchungen dieser Arbeit, dass die Dimensionalität, insbesondere deren Einschränkung, einen deutlichen Einfluss auf die elektronischen Eigenschaften von Systemen und Materialien haben kann.