Structure and photoluminescence study of InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots grown via cycled (InAs)(n)/(GaAs)(n) monolayer deposition

We report the morphology of an InGaAs nanostructure grown by molecular beam epitaxy via cycled (InAs)(n)/(GaAs)(n) monolayer deposition. Atomic force microscopy images clearly show that varying monolayer deposition per cycle has significant influence on the size, density and shape of the InGaAs nanostructure. Low-temperature photoluminescence spectra show the effect of n on the optical quality, and 1.35mum photoluminescence with a linewidth of only 19.2meV at room temperature has been achieved in the (InAs)(1)/(GaAs)(1) structure.

Effect of InAs quantum dots on the Fermi level pinning of undoped-n(+) type GaAs surface studied by contactless electroreflectance

Self-assembled InAs quantum dots (QDs) have been fabricated by depositing 1.6, 1.8, 2.0 and 2.5 monolayer (ML) InAs on surfaces of the undoped-n(+) (UN+) type GaAs structure. Room temperature contactless electroreflectance (CER) was employed to study the built-in electric field and the surface Fermi level pinning of these QD-covered UN+ GaAs samples. The CER results show that 1.6 ML InAs QDs on GaAs do not modify the Fermi level, whereas for samples with more than 1.6 ML InAs coverage, the surface Fermi level is moved to the valence band maximum of GaAs by about 70 meV (which is independent of the InAs deposition thickness) compared to bare GaAs. It is concluded that the modification of InAs coverage on the Fermi level on the GaAs surface is due to the QDs, rather than to the wetting layer. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.

Design of high brightness cubic-GaN LEDs grown on GaAs substrate

The Principle of optical thin film was used to calculate the feasibility of improving the light extraction efficiency of GaN/GaAs optical devices by wafer-bonding technique. The calculated results show that the light extraction efficiency of bonded samples can be improved by 2.66 times than the as-grown GaN/GaAs samples when a thin Ni layer was used as adhesive layer and Ag layer as reflective layer. Full reflectance spectrum comparison shows that reflectivity for the incident light of 459.2 nm of the bonded samples was improved by 2.4 times than the as-grown samples, which is consistent with the calculated results.

The effect of inserting strain-compensated GaNAs layers on the luminescence properties of GaInNAs/GaAs quantum well

Photoluminescence (PL) properties of GaInNAs/GaAs quantum wells (QWs) with strain-compensated GaNAs layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy are investigated. The temperature-dependent PL spectra of GaInNAs/GaAs QW with and without GaNAs layers are compared and carefully studied. It is shown that the introduction of GaNAs layers between well and barrier can effectively extend the emission wavelength, mainly due to the reduction of the barrier potential. The PL peak position up to 1.41 mum is observed at the room temperature. After adding the GaNAs layers into QW structures, there is no essential deterioration of luminescence efficiency. N-induced localization states are also not remarkably influenced. It implies that with optimized growth condition, high-quality GaInNAs/GaAs QWs with strain-compensated GaNAs layers can be achieved. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Method for measurement of lattice parameter of cubic GaN layers on GaAs (001)

An extended technique derived from triple-axis diffraction setup was proposed to measure lattice parameters of cubic GaN(c-GaN) films. The fully relaxed lattice parameters of c-GaN are determined to be 4.5036+0.0004 Angstrom, which is closer to the values of a hypothetical perfect crystal. The speculated zero setting correction (Deltatheta) is very slight and within the range of the accuracy of measurement. Additionally, we applied this method to analyze strain of four different kinds of c-GaN samples. It is found that in-plane strain caused by large lattice mismatch and thermal expansion coefficients mismatch directly influence the epilayer growth at high temperatures, indicating that the relaxation of tensile strain after thermal annealing helps to improve the crystalline quality of c-GaN films and optical properties. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Optical constants of cubic GaN/GaAs(001): Experiment and modeling

The optical constants epsilon(E)=epsilon(1)(E)+iepsilon(2)(E) of unintentionally doped cubic GaN grown on GaAs(001) have been measured at 300 K using spectral ellipsometry in the range of 1.5-5.0 eV. The epsilon(E) spectra display a structure, associated with the critical point at E-0 (direct gap) and some contribution mainly coming from the E-1 critical point. The experimental data over the entire measured spectral range (after oxide removal) has been fit using the Holden-Munoz model dielectric function [M. Munoz et al., J. Appl. Phys. 92, 5878 (2002)]. This model is based on the electronic energy-band structure near critical points plus excitonic and band-to-band Coulomb-enhancement effects at E-0, E-0 + Delta(0) and the E-1, E-1 + Delta(1), doublet. In addition to evaluating the energy of the E-0 critical point, the binding energy (R-1) of the two-dimensional exciton related to the E-1 critical point was estimated using the effective mass/k.p theory. The line, shape of the imaginary part of the cubic-GaN dielectric function shows excitonic effects at room temperature not withstanding that the exciton was not resolved. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.

The effects of rapid thermal annealing on the optical properties of Zn1-xMnxSe epilayer grown by MOCVD on GaAs substrate

Zn1-xMnxSe thin films with different Mn compositions are grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition on GaAs substrate. Good crystallinity of sample is evidenced by X-ray diffraction and rocking-curve measurements. Photoluminescence (PL) properties were carefully studied. A dominant PL peak close to the band edge is observed at low temperature for samples with higher Mn concentration. The temperature-dependent PL and time-resolved photoluminescence show that this emission peak is associated with the recombination of exciton bound to Mn-induced impurity bound states. It is found that rapid thermal annealing can induce reorganization of Mn composition in alloys and significantly reduce the density of impurity induced by Mn incorporation and improve the intrinsic interband transition. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

A method to obtain ground state electroluminescence from 1.3 mu m emitting InAs/GaAs quantum dots grown by molecular beam epitaxy

1.3 mum emitting InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) have been grown by molecular beam epitaxy and QD light emitting diodes (LEDs) have been fabricated. In the electroluminescence spectra of QD LEDs, two clear peaks corresponding to the ground state emission and the excited state emission are observed. It was found that the ground state emission could be achieved by increasing the number of QDs contained in the active region because of the state filling effect. This work demonstrates a way to control and tune the emitting wavelength of QD LEDs and lasers.

Atomic hydrogen induced step bunching and fabrication of quantum wire arrays on GaAs (311)A substrate by molecular beam epitaxy

Atomic hydrogen assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is a novel type of epitaxial growth of nanostructures. The GaAs (311)A surface naturally forms one-dimensional step arrays by step bunching along the direction of (-233) and the space period is around 40nm. The step arrays extend over several mum without displacement. The InGaAs quantum wire arrays are grown on the step arrays as the basis. Our results may prompt further development of more uniform quantum wire and quantum dot arrays.

Structure and optical properties of upper In(Ga)As quantum dots on a different seed layer with a thin GaAs spacer layer

The structure and optical properties of In(Ga)As grown with the introduction of InGaAlAs or InAlAs seed dots layers are investigated. The area density and size homogeneity of the upper InGaAs dots are efficiently improved with the introduction of a layer of high-density buried dots. When the GaAs spacer layer is too thin to cover the seed dots, the upper dots exhibit the characterization of a quantum well. By analyzing the growth dynamics, we refer to it as an empty-core structure dot. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

In0.25Ga0.75As growth on low-temperature thin buffer layers formed on GaAs (001) substrate

High-quality In0.25Ga0.75As films were grown on low-temperature (LT) ultra-thin GaAs buffer layers formed on GaAs (0 0 1) substrate by molecular beam epitaxy. The epilayers were studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM), photo luminescence (PL) and double crystal X-ray diffraction (DCXRD), All the measurements indicated that LT thin buffer layer technique is a simple but powerful growth technique for heteroepitaxy. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Interface-related in-plane optical anisotropy in GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs single-quantum-well structures studied by reflectance difference spectroscopy

The in-plane optical anisotropies of a series of GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs single-quantum-well structures have been observed at room temperature by reflectance difference spectroscopy. The measured degree of polarization of the excitonic transitions is inversely proportional to the well width. Numerical calculations based on the envelope function approximation incorporating the effect of C-2v-interface symmetry have been performed to analyze the origin of the optical anisotropy. Good agreement with the experimental data is obtained when the optical anisotropy is attributed to anisotropic-interface structures. The fitted interface potential parameters are consistent with predicted values.

Symmetry in the diagonal self-assembled InAs quantum wire arrays on InP substrate

Diagonal self-assembled InAs quantum wire (QWR) arrays with the stacked InAs/In0.52Al0.48As structure are grown on InP substrates, which are (001)-oriented and misoriented by 6degrees towards the [100] direction. Both the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and migration enhanced epitaxy (MEE) techniques are employed. Transmission electron microscopy reveals that whether a diagonal InAs QWR array of the stacked InAs/InAlAs is symmetrical about the growth direction or not depends on the growth method as well as substrate orientation. Asymmetry in the diagonal MEE-grown InAs QWR array can be ascribed to the influence of surface reconstruction on upward migration of adatoms during the self-assembly of the InAs quantum wires.

Structural characterization of epitaxial lateral overgrown GaN on patterned GaN/GaAs(001) substrates

Epitaxial lateral overgrown (ELO) cubic GaN (c-GaN) on SiO2 patterned GaN/GaAs(0 0 1) substrates by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy was investigated using transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. The density of stacking faults (SFs) in ELO c-GaN was similar to6 x 10(8) cm(-2), while that in underlying GaN template was similar to5 x 10(9) cm(-2). XRD measurements showed that the full-width at half-maximum of c-GaN (0 0 2) rocking curve decreased from 33 to 17.8 arcmin, indicating the improved crystalline quality of ELO c-GaN. The mechanism of SF reduction in ELO c-GaN was also discussed. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Selectively excited photoluminescence of GaAs1-xSbx/GaAs single quantum wells

GaAsSb/GaAs single quantum wells grown by molecular-beam epitaxy are studied by selectively excited photoluminescence measurements. We have simultaneously observed the photoluminescence (PL) from both type-I and type-II transitions in the samples. The two transitions exhibit different PL behavior under different excitation energies. As expected, the peak energy of the type-I emission remains constant in the entire excitation energy range we used, while the type-II transition shows a significant blueshift with increasing excitation energy. The observed blueshift can be well explained by an electron-hole charge separation model at interface. This result, along with the excitation-power-dependent PL and the measured longer carrier decay time, provides more direct information on the type-II nature of the band alignment in GaAsSb/GaAs quantum well structures. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.