Interfacial behaviour of quantum well electrode/electrolyte: effect of redox species on EER spectra of a single quantum well GaAs vertical bar AlxGa1-xAs electrode

The EER spectra of a single quantum well GaAs\AlxGa1-xAs electrode were studied as a function of applied reverse bias in ferrocene, p-methyl nitrobenzene and hydroquinone+benzoquinone non-aqueous solutions. EER spectra were compared for different redox species and showed that a pronounced quantum-confined Stark effect and a Franz-Keldysh oscillation for a single quantum well electrode were obtained in the p-methyl-nitrobenzene- and hydroquinone+benzoquinone-containing solutions. A surface interaction of the single quantum well electrode with ferrocene led to fewer changes in the electric field of the space charge layer for reverse bias; this was suggested to explain the weak quantum-confined Stark effect and Franz-Keldysh oscillation effect observed for the single quantum well electrode in the ferrocene-containing solution. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.

Optical and structural properties of anodized AlxGa1-xAs layers

The optical and structural properties of anodized AlxGa1-xAs films were investigated by using optical reflectance, X-ray photoemission and Auger electron spectroscopy (XPS and AES). II was found that the anodization process occurs progressively from the surface to the bulk of AlxGa1-xAs and the formed oxidation film comprises mainly oxides of Al and Ga together with a relatively small amount of As. The refractive indexes of the anodized Al0.8Ga0.2As film and Al0.8Ga0.2As film itself were deduced to be about 1.80 and 3.25, respectively, indicating that the anodization film is desirable for anti-reflection coating of the surface of AlxGa1-xAs/GaAs solar cells. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.

Photoelectric behaviour of lattice-matched GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs quantum well electrodes

The photoelectric properties of the lattice-matched GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs quantum well electrodes and the influence of the electrode structure such as well width, the thickness of outer barrier and the number of period were studied in a nonaqueous electrolyte. A new kind of structure of multiple quantum well electrode with varied well width, possessing the quantum yield three times that of GaAs bulk materials, was designed and fabricated.

Photoluminescence studies on the interaction of near-surface GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs quantum wells with chemical adsorbates

The chemical adsorption of sodium sulphide, ferrocene, hydroquinone and p-methyl-nitrobenzene onto the surface of a GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs multiquantum well semiconductor was characterized by steady state and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The changes in the PL response, including the red shift of the emission peak of the exciton in the quantum well and the enhancement of the PL intensity, are discussed in terms of the interactions of the adsorbed molecules with surface states.

High efficiency AlxGa1-xAs/GaAs solar cells: Fabrication, irradiation and annealing effect

High efficiency AlxGa1-xAs/GaAs heteroface solar cells have been fabricated by an improved multi-wafer squeezing graphite boat liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) technique, which enables simultaneous growth of twenty 2.3 X 2.3cm(2) epilayers in one run. A total area conversion efficiency of 17.33% is exhibited (1sun, AM0, 2.0 x 2.0cm(2)). The shallow junction cell shows more resistance to 1 MeV electron radiation than the deep one. After isochronal or isothermal annealing the density and the number of deep level traps induced by irradiation are reduced effectively for the solar cells with deep junction and bombardment under high electron fluences.

Determination of AlxGa1-xAs Auger sensitivity factors

AlxGa1-xAs Auger sensitivity factors have been determined by using PHI610 scanning Auger microprobe with pure elemental standards Al, Ag and matrix GaAs. The quantitative results of AlxGa1-xAs measured by the present method are in very good agreement with X-ray double crystal measurements. it is shown that by using sensitivity factors obtained from the self-instrument, the accuracy of the quantitative AES analysis can be considerably improved compared with that using elemental relative sensitivity factors given by the PHI handbook or internal standard method.

EER studies of the single quantum well GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs electrode/nonaqueous solution interface

The interfacial behavior of the single quantum well (SQW) GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs electrode in HQ/BQ and Fc/Fc(+) electrolytes was characterized respectively by studying the quantum confined Stark effect and Franz-Keldysh oscillation with electrolyte electroreflectance spectroscopy. The interaction of the surface state of the SQW electrode with redox species and its effects on the distribution of external bias at the interface of the SQW electrode are discussed.

Structure and device characteristics of AlxGa1-xAs/GaAs solar cells

AlGa1-xAs/GaAs heterostructures have been grown by two different liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) modes, i.e. the supercooled and melt-etch methods, for the fabrication of highly efficient solar cells. Typical structural characteristics observed under a transmission electron microscope (TEM), an Auger energy spectrometer (AES) and corresponding device parameters were presented. The results indicated that the P+PNN+ configuration grown by the melt-etch method could be used to produce high performance, large area solar cells with effectively reducing the defects of the substrate and improving the minority carrier collection by forming a compositionally graded region in the window layer.

INFRARED-ABSORPTION DUE TO 2-DIMENSIONAL-ELECTRON-GAS COLLECTIVE EXCITATION IN GAAS/ALXGA1-XAS MULTIPLE-QUANTUM-WELL STRUCTURES

Infrared absorption due to a collective excitation of a two-dimensional electronic gas was observed in GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs multiple-quantum wells when the incident light is polarized parallel to the quantum-well plane. We attribute this phenomenon to a plasma oscillation in the quantum wells. The measured wavelength of the absorption peak due to the plasma oscillation agrees with our theoretical analysis. In addition, in this study the plasma-phonon coupling effect is also fitted to the experimental result. We show that the absorption is not related to the intersubband transitions but to the intrasubband transition, which originates from a plasma oscillation.

PHOTOLUMINESCENCE STUDIES OF CHEMICAL ADSORPTION OF GAAS/ALXGA1-XAS MULTIQUANTUM-WELL SEMICONDUCTOR

Adsorption of ferrocene and p-methylnitrobenzene on a GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs multiquantum well semiconductor is characterized by the changes in the photoluminescent response in terms of the interactions of adsorbed molecules with surface states.