Electron spin quantum beats and room temperature g factor in GaAsN

We report on the investigation of electron spin quantum beats at room temperature in GaAsN thin films by time-resolved Kerr rotation technique. The measurement of the quantum beats, which originate from the Larmor precession of electron spins in external transverse magnetic field, yields an accurate determination of the conduction electron g factor. We show that the g factor of GaAs1-xNx thin films is significantly changed by the introduction of a small nitrogen fraction.

Curvature Correction of FWHM in the X-Ray Rocking Curve of Bent Heteroepitaxial Films

A method for accurate determination of the curvature radius of semiconductor thin films is proposed. The curvature-induced broadening of the x-ray rocking curve (XRC) of a heteroepitaxially grown layer can be determined if the dependence of the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of XRC is measured as a function of the width of incident x-ray beam. It is found that the curvature radii of two GaN films grown on a sapphire wafer are different when they are grown under similar MOCVD conditions but have different values of layer thickness. At the same time, the dislocation-induced broadening of XRC and thus the dislocation density of the epitaxial film can be well calculated after the curvature correction.

Electric Field Control of Interface Related Spin Splitting in Step Quantum Wells

Spin splitting of the AlyGa1-yAs/GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs/AlyGa1-yAs (x not equal y) step quantum wells (QWs) has been theoretically investigated with a model that includes both the interface and the external electric field contribution. The overall spin splitting is mainly determined by the interface contribution, which can be well manipulated by the external electric field. In the absence of the electric field, the Rashba effect exists due to the internal structure inversion asymmetry (SIA). The electric field can strengthen or suppress the internal SIA, resulting in an increase or decrease of the spin splitting. The step QW, which results in large spin splitting, has advantages in applications to spintronic devices compared with symmetrical and asymmetrical QWs. Due to the special structure design, the spin splitting does not change with the external electric field.

Structural and Magnetic Properties of Sm Implanted GaN

The structural and magnetic properties of Sm ion-implanted GaN with different Sm concentrations are investigated. XRD results do not show any peaks associated with second phase formation. Magnetic investigations performed by superconducting quantum interference device reveal ferromagnetic behavior with an ordering temperature above room temperature in all the implanted samples, while the effective magnetic moment per Sm obtained from saturation magnetization gives a much higher value than the atomic moment of Sm. These results could be explained by the phenomenological model proposed by Dhar et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 94(2005) 037205, Phys. Rev. B 72(2005) 245203] in terms of a long-range spin polarization of the GaN matrix by the Sm atoms.

Evolution of surface morphology and photoluminescence characteristics of 1.3-mu m In0.5Ga0.5As/GaAs quantum dots grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Evolution of surface morphology and optical characteristics of 1.3-mu m In0.5Ga0.5As/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) are investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and photoluminescence (PL). After deposition of 16 monolayers (ML) of In0.5Ga0.5As, QDs are formed and elongated along the [110] direction when using sub-ML depositions, while large size InGaAs QDs with better uniformity are formed when using ML or super-ML depositions. It is also found that the larger size QDs show enhanced PL efficiency without optical nonlinearity, which is in contrast to the elongated QDs.

Surface characteristics of SiO2-TiO2 strip fabricated by laser direct writing

SiO2-TiO2 sol-gel films are deposited on SiO2/Si by dip-coating technique. The SiO2-TiO2 strips are fabricated by laser direct writing using all ytterbium fiber laser and followed by chemical etching. Surface structures, morphologies and roughness of the films and strips are characterized. The experimental results demonstrate that the SiO2-TiO2 sol-gel film is loose in Structure and a shrinkage concave groove forms if the film is irradiated by laser beam. The surface roughness of both non-irradiated and laser irradiated areas increases with the chemical etching time. But the roughness of laser irradiated area increases more than that of non-irradiated area under the same etching time. After being etched for 28 s, the surface roughness value of the laser irradiated area increases from 0.3 nm to 3.1 nm.

Mechanical Deformation Behavior of Nonpolar GaN Thick Films by Berkovich Nanoindentation

In this study, the deformation mechanisms of nonpolar GaN thick films grown on m-sapphire by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) are investigated using nanoindentation with a Berkovich indenter, cathodoluminescence (CL), and Raman microscopy. Results show that nonpolar GaN is more susceptible to plastic deformation and has lower hardness than c-plane GaN. After indentation, lateral cracks emerge on the nonpolar GaN surface and preferentially propagate parallel to the < 11 (2) over bar0 > orientation due to anisotropic defect-related stresses. Moreover, the quenching of CL luminescence can be observed to extend exclusively out from the center of the indentations along the < 11 (2) over bar0 > orientation, a trend which is consistent with the evolution of cracks. The recrystallization process happens in the indented regions for the load of 500 mN. Raman area mapping indicates that the distribution of strain field coincides well with the profile of defect-expanded dark regions, while the enhanced compressive stress mainly concentrates in the facets of the indentation.

Electrically Pumped Room-Temperature Pulsed InGaAsP-Si Hybrid Lasers Based on Metal Bonding

A pulsed InGaAsP-Si hybrid laser is fabricated using metal bonding. A novel structure in which the optical coupling and metal bonding areas are transversely separated is employed to integrate the silicon waveguide with an InGaAsP multi-quantum well distributed feedback structure. When electrically pumped at room temperature, the laser operates with a threshold current density of 2.9 kA/cm(2) and a slope efficiency of 0.02 W/A. The 1542 nm laser output exits mainly from the Si waveguide.

GaAs-Based Metamorphic Long-Wavelength InAs Quantum Dots Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

A bilayer stacked InAs/GaAs quantum dot structure grown by molecular beam epitaxy on an In0.05Ga0.95As metamorphic buffer is investigated. By introducing a InGaAs Sb cover layer on the upper InAs quantum dots (QDs) layers, the emission wavelength of the QDs is extended successfully to 1.533 mu m at room temperature, and the density of the QDs is in the range of 4 x 10(9) -8 x 10(9) cm(-2). Strong photoluminescence (PL) intensity with a full width at half maximum of 28.6 meV of the PL spectrum shows good optical quality of the bilayer QDs. The growth of bilayer QDs on metamorphic buffers offers a useful way to extend the wavelengths of GaAs-based materials for potential applications in optoelectronic and quantum functional devices.

Reduced divergence angle of photonic crystal vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser

The reduced divergence angle of the photonic crystal vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (PC-VCSEL) was investigated in both theory and experiment. The photonic crystal waveguide possessed the weakly guiding waveguide characteristic, which accounted for the reduction of the divergence angle. The three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method was used to simulate the designed PC-VCSEL, and a calculated divergence angle of 5.2 degrees was obtained. The measured divergence angles of our fabricated PC-VCSEL were between 5.1 degrees and 5.5 degrees over the entire drive current range, consistent with the numerical results. This is the lowest divergence angle of the fabricated PC-VCSEL ever reported.

Effect of Ka-band microwave on the spin dynamics of electrons in a GaAs/Al0.35Ga0.65As heterostructure

We report experimental results of the effect of Ka-band microwave on the spin dynamics of electrons in a two-dimensional electron system (2DES) in a GaAs/Al0.35Ga0.65As heterostructure via time-resolved Kerr rotation measurements. While the microwave reduces the transverse spin lifetime of electrons in the bulk GaAs, it significantly increases that in the 2DES, from 745 to 1213 ps, when its frequency is close to the Zeeman splitting of the electrons in the magnetic field. Such a microwave-enhanced spin lifetime is ascribed to the microwave-induced electron scattering which leads to a "motional narrowing" of spins via D'yakonov-Perel' mechanism.

Integratable and High Speed Complex-Coupled MQW-DFB Lasers Fabricated on Semi-Insulating Substrates

A novel integratable and high speed InGaAsP multi-quantum well (MQW) complex-coupled distributed feedback (DFB) laser is successfully fabricated on a semi-insulating substrate. The fabricated ridge DFB laser exhibits a threshold current of 26 mA, a slope efficiency of 0.14 W.A(-1) and a side mode suppression ratio of 40 dB together with a 3 dB bandwidth of more than 8 GHz. The device is suitable for 10 Gbit/s optical fiber communication.

A Diode-Side-Pumped Dynamic Fundamental Mode Nd:YAG Laser

A fundamental mode Nd YAG laser is experimentally demonstrated with a stagger pumped laser module and a special resonator. The rod is pumped symmetrically by staggered bar modules. A dynamic fundamental mode is achieved with the special resonator under different pump levels. A maximal continuous wave output of 61 W (M-2 = 1.4) is achieved with a single rod. An average output of 47 W, pulse width of 54 ns, pulse energy of 4.7 mJ and peak power of 87 kW are obtained under the Q-switched operation of 10 kHz.

Growth-Parameter Spaces and Optical Properties of Cubic Boron Nitride Films on Si(001)

Cubic boron nitride (c-BN) films were deposited on Si(001) substrates in an ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) system under various conditions, and the growth parameter spaces and optical properties of c-BN films have been investigated systematically. The results indicate that suitable ion bombardment is necessary for the growth of c-BN films, and a well defined parameter space can be established by using the P/a-parameter. The refractive index of BN films keeps a constant of 1.8 for the c-BN content lower than 50%, while for c-BN films with higher cubic phase the refractive index increases with the c-BN content from 1.8 at chi(c) = 50% to 2.1 at chi(c) = 90%. Furthermore, the relationship between n and rho for BN films can be described by the Anderson-Schreiber equation, and the overlap field parameter gamma is determined to be 2.05.

Hole Spin Relaxation in an Ultrathin InAs Monolayer

We investigate the spin relaxation time of holes in an ultrathin neutral InAs monolayer (1.5 ML) and compare with that of electrons, using polarization-dependent time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) experiments. With excitation energies above the GaAs gap, we observe a rather slow relaxation of holes (tau(1h) = 196 +/- 17 ps) that is in the magnitude similar to electrons (tau(1e) = 354 +/- 32 ps) in this ultrathin sample. The results are in good agreement with earlier theoretical prediction, and the phonon scattering due to spin-orbit coupling is realized to play a dominant role in the carrier spin kinetics.