POLARIZATION OF HOT PHOTOLUMINESCENCE IN QUANTUM-WELLS AND HEAVY-LIGHT HOLE MIXING

Hot electrons excited from the valence band by linearly polarized laser light are characterized by certain angular distributions in momenta. Owing to such angular distributions in momenta, the photoluminescence from the hot electrons shows a certain degree of polarization. A theoretical treatment of this effect observed in the photoluminescence in quantum wells is given, showing that the effect depends strongly on heavy and light hole mixing. The very large disparity between the experimentally observed and theoretically expected values of the degree of polarization in the hot-electron photoluminescence suggests the presence of random quasielastic scattering. The effects of such additional scattering and the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field are incorporated into the theory. it is shown that the measurements of the degree of polarization observed in the hot electron photoluminescence, with and without an applied perpendicular magnetic field can serve to determine the time constants for both LO-phonon inelastic and random quasielastic scattering. As an example, these time constants are determined for the experiments reported in the literature.

Linear polarization of photoluminescence in quantum wires

The linear character of the polarization of the luminescence in porous Si is studied experimentally, and the corresponding luminescence characteristics in quantum wires are studied theoretically using a quantum cylindrical model in the framework of the effective-mass theory. From the experimental and theoretical results it is concluded that there is a stronger linear polarization parallel to the wire direction than there is perpendicular to the wire, and that it is connected with the valence band structure in quantum confinement in two directions. The theoretical photoluminescence spectra of the parallel and perpendicular polarization directions, and the degree of polarization as functions of the radius of the wire and the temperature are obtained for In0.53Ga0.47As quantum wires and porous silicon. From the theory, we demonstrated that the degree of polarization decreases with increasing temperature and radius, and that this effect is more apparent for porous Si. The theoretical results are in good agreement with the experimental results for the InGaAs quantum wires, and in qualitative agreement with those for the porous silicon.

Effects of point defects on lattice parameters of semiconductors

A model for analyzing the correlation between lattice parameters and point defects in semiconductors has been established. The results of this model for analyzing the substitutes in semiconductors are in accordance with those from Vegard's law and experiments. Based on this model, the lattice strains caused by the antisites, the tetrahedral and octahedral single interstitials, and the interstitial couples are analyzed. The superdilation in lattice parameters of GaAs grown at low temperatures by molecular-beam epitaxy can be interpreted by this model, which is in accordance with the experimental results. This model provides a way of analyzing the stoichiometry in bulk and epitaxial compound semiconductors nondestructively.

Band structure parameters of zinc-blende GaN, AlN and their alloys Ga1-xAlxN

The electronic properties of wide energy gap zinc-blende structure GaN, AlN and their alloys Ga1-xAlxN are investigated using the empirical pseudopotential method. Electron and hole Effective mass parameters, hydrostatic and shear deformation potential constants of the valence band at Gamma and those of the conduction band at Gamma and X are obtained. The energies of Gamma, X, L conduction valleys of Ga1-xAlxN alloy versus Al fraction x are also calculated. The information will be useful for the design of lattice mismatched heterostructure optoelectronic devices in the blue light range.

A High-Efficiency Fiber-to-Waveguide Coupler with Low Polarization Dependence Using a Diluted Waveguide in InP Substrate with a 1.55μm Wavelength

We propose a fiber-to-waveguide coupler for side-illuminated p-i-n photodiodes to obtain high responsivity and low polarization dependence that is grown on InP substrate and is suitable for surface hybrid integration in low cost modules. The fiber-to-waveguide coupler is based on a diluted waveguide,which is composed of ten periods of undoped 120nm InP/80nm InGaAsP （1.05μm bandgap） multiple layers. Using the semi-vectorial three dimensional beam propagation method （BPM） with the central difference scheme,the coupling efficiency of fiber-to-waveguide under different conditions is simulated and studied,and the optimized conditions for fiber-to-waveguide coupling are obtained. For TE-like and TM-like modes,the calculated maximum coupling efficiency is higher than 94% and 92% ,respectively. The calculated polarization dependence is less than 0. ldB,showing good polarization independence.

Linear-Polarization Optical Property of CdSe Quantum Rods

The linear-polarization optical property of CdSe quantum rods is studied in the framework of effective-mass envelope function theory.The effects of shape and magnetic field on the linear polarization factors are investigated.It is found that CdSe quantum spheres have negative polarization factors (xy-polarized emission)and quantum long rods with small radius have positive linear polarization factors (z-polarized emission).The z-direction is the direction of the c axis.Quantum long rods with large radius have negative linear polarization factors,due to the hexagonal crystal symmetry and the crystal field splitting energy.The linear polarization factors decrease and may change from a positive value to a negative value;i.e.,the z-polarized emissions decrease relative to xy-polarized emissions as the magnetic field applied along the z direction increases.

Polarization-Insensitive Silica on Silicon Arrayed Waveguide Grating Design

A new technology for fabrication of silica on silicon arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) based on deep etching and thermal oxidation is presented.Using this method,a silicon layer is remained at the side of waveguide.The stress distribution and effective refractive index of waveguide fabricated by this approach are calculated using finite element and finite difference beam propagation method,respectively.The results of these studies indicate that the stress of silica on silicon optical waveguide can be matched in parallel and vertical direction and AWG polarization dependent wavelength (PDλ) can be reduced effectively due to side-silicon layer.

Wide-Band Polarization-Independent Semiconductor Optical Amplifier Gate with Tensile-Strained Quasi-Bulk InGaAs

A semiconductor optical amplifier gate based on tensile-strained quasi-bulk InGaAs is developed. At injection current of 80mA,a 3dB optical bandwidth of more than 85nm is achieved due to dominant band-filling effect.Moreover, the most important is that very low polarization dependence of gain (＜0. 7dB),fiber-to-fiber lossless operation current (70～90mA) and a high extinction ratio (＞50dB) are simultaneously obtained over this wide 3dB optical bandwidth (1520～1609nm) which nearly covers the spectral region of the whole C band (1525～1565nm)and the whole L band (1570～ 1610nm). The gating time is also improved by decreasing carrier lifetime. The wideband polarization-insensitive SOA-gate is promising for use in future dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) communication systems.

Effects of polarization field on formation of two-dimensional electron gas in (0001) and (11(2)over-bar0) plane AlGaN/GaN heterostructures

Photoluminescence (PL) and temperature-dependent Hall effect measurements were carried out in (0001) and (11 (2) over bar0) AlGaN/GaN heterostructures grown on sapphire substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. There are strong spontaneous and piezoelectric electric fields (SPF) along the growth orientation of the (0001) AlGaN/GaN heterostructures. At the same time there are no corresponding SPF along that of the (1120) AlGaN/GaN. A strong PL peak related to the recombination between two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) and photoexcited holes was observed at 3.258 eV at room temperature in (0001) AlGaN/GaN heterointerfaces while no corresponding PL peak was observed in (11 (2) over bar0). The existence of a 2DEG was observed in (0001) AlGaN/GaN multi-layers with a mobility saturated at 6000 cm(2)/V s below 80 K, whereas a much lower mobility was measured in (11 (2) over bar0). These results indicated that the SPF was the main element to cause the high mobility and high sheet-electron-density 2DEG in AlGaN/GaN heterostructures. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A novel polarization-insensitive semiconductor optical amplifier structure with large 3dB bandwidth

A novel approach to achieving a polarization-insensitive semiconductor optical amplifier is presented. The active layer consists of graded tensile strained bulk-like structure. which can not only enhance TM mode material gain and further realize polarization-insensitivity, but also get a large 3dB bandwidth due to different strain introduced into the active layer. 3dB bandwidth more than 40nm. 65nm has been obtained in die experiment and theory, respectively. The characteristics of such polarization insensitive structure have been analyzed, The influence of the amount of strain and of the thickness of strain layer on the polarization insensitivity has been discussed.

Polarization switching current of vertical cavity surface-emitting Lasers in an applied electric field

The polarization of vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) can be controlled by electro-optic birefringence. We calculated the birefringence resulted from external electric field which was imposed on the top DBR of VCSEL by assuming that the two polarization modes were in the same place of the gain spectra in the absence of electric field beginning. By modifying SFM, the affection of the electric field strength on the polarization switching currents between the two polarization modes had been shown.

Photocurrent derivative spectra of ZnCdSe-ZnSe double multi-quantum wells

Photocurrent (PC) spectra of ZnCdSe-ZnSe double multi-quantum wells are measured at different temperature. Its corresponding photocurrent derivative (PCD) spectra are obtained by computing, and the PCD spectra have greatly enhanced the sensitivity of the relative weak PC signals. The polarization dependence of the PC spectra shows that the transitions observed in the PC spectra are heavy-hole related, and the transition energy coincide well with the results obtained by envelope function approximation including strain. The temperature dependence of the photocurrent curves indicates that the thermal activation is the dominant transport mechanism of the carriers in our samples. The concept of saturation temperature region is introduced to explain why the PC spectra have different temperature dependence in the samples with different structure parameters. It is found to be very useful in designing photovoltaic devices.