Size dependence of biexciton binding energy in single InAs/GaAs quantum dots

This paper studies the size dependence of biexciton binding energy in single quantum dots (QDs) by using atomic force microscopy and micro-photoluminescence measurements. It finds that the biexciton binding energies in the QDs show "binding" and "antibinding" properties which correspond to the large and small sizes of QDs, respectively. The experimental results can be well interpreted by the biexciton potential curve, calculated from the exciton molecular model and the Heitler-London method.

Energy Levels of Hydrogenic Impurities in InAs Quantum Ring

The distribution of energy levels of the ground state and the low-lying excited states of hydrogenic impurities in InAs quantum ring was investigated by applying the effective mass approximation and the perturbation method. In 2D polar coordinates, the exact solution to the Schrodinger equation was used to calculate the perturbation integral in a parabolic confinement potential. The numerical results show that the energy levels of electron are sensitively dependent on the radius of the quantum ring and a minimum exists on account of the parabolic confinement potential. With decreasing the radius, the energy spacing between energy levels increases. The degenerate energy levels of the first excited state for hydrogenic impurities are not relieved, and when the degenerate energy levels are split and the energy spacing will increase with the increase in the radius. The energy spacing between energy levels of electron is also sensitively dependent on the angular frequency and will increase with the increases in it. The degenerate energy levels of the first excited state are not relieved. The degenerate energy levels of the second excited state are relieved partially. The change in angular frequency will have a profound effect upon the calculation of the energy levels of the ground state and the low-lying excited states of hydrogenic impurities in InAs quantum ring. The conclusions of this paper will provide important guidance to investigating the optical transitions and spectral structures in quantum ring.

(Ga, Gd, As) film growth on GaAs substrate by low-energy ion-beam deposit

(Ga, Gd, As) film was fabricated by the mass-analyzed dual ion-beam epitaxy system with the energy of 1000 eV at room temperature. There was no new peak found except GaAs substrate peaks (0 0 2) and (0 0 4) by X-ray diffraction. Rocking curves were measured for symmetric (0 0 4) reflections to further yield the lattice mismatch information by employing double-crystal X-ray diffraction. The element distributions vary so much due to the ion dose difference from AES depth profiles. The sample surface morphology indicates oxidizing layer roughness is also relative to the Gd ion dose, which leads to islandlike feature appearing on the high-dose sample. One sample shows ferromagnetic behavior at room temperature. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Stability of GaAs photocathodes under different intensities of illumination

The photocurrent curves of reflection-mode GaAs photocathodes as a function of time, when were illuminated by white light with an intensity of 0, 33 and 100 Ix, respectively, were measured using a multi-information measurement system. The calculated lifetimes of cathodes are 320, 160 and 75 min, respectively, showing that the stability of cathodes degraded with the increase of light intensity. The lifetime of cathode, illuminated by white light with an intensity of 100 Ix, while no photocurrent was being drawn during the illumination, was 100 min. Through comparison, we found that the influence of illumination on cathodes stability is greater than that of photocurrent. The quantum-yield curves of cathodes as a functions of time, when illuminated by white light with an intensity of 33 Ix, were measured also. The measured results show that the shape of the yield curves changes with increasing illumination time due to the faster quantum-yield degradation rate of low energy photons. Based on the revised quantum-efficiency equations for the reflection-mode cathodes, the variation of yield curves are analyzed to be due to the intervalley diffusion of photoelectrons and the evolution of the surface potential barrier profile of the photocathodes during degradation process.

Electrical and optical properties of InAs/GaAs quantum dots doped by high energy Mn implantation

Mn ions were doped into InAs/GaAs quantum dots samples by high energy. implantation and subsequent annealing. The optical and electric properties of the samples have been studied. The photoluminescence intensity of the samples annealed rapidly is stronger than that of the samples annealed for long time. By studying the relationship between the photoluminescence peaks and the implantation dose, it can be found that the photoluminescence peaks of the quantum dots show a blueshift firstly and then move to low energy with the implantation. dose increasing. The latter change in the photoluminescence peaks is probably attributed to that Mn ions entering the InAs quantum dots, which release the strain of the quantum dots. For the samples implanted by heavy dose (annealed rapidly) and the samples annealed for long time, the resistances versus temperature curves reveal anomalous peaks around 40 K.

Binding energy of a hydrogenic donor impurity in a rectangular parallelepiped-shaped quantum dot: Quantum confinement and Stark effects

We calculate the binding energy of a hydrogenic donor impurity in a rectangular parallelepiped-shaped quantum dot (QD) in the framework of effective-mass envelope-function theory using the plane wave basis. The variation of the binding energy with edge length, position of the impurity, and external electric field is studied in detail. A finite potential model is adopted in our calculations. Compared with the infinite potential model [C. I. Mendoza , Phys. Rev. B 71, 075330 (2005)], the following results are found: (1) if the impurity is located in the interior of the QD, our results give a smaller binding energy than the infinite potential model; (2) the binding energies are more sensitively dependent on the applied electric field in the finite potential model; (3) the infinite potential model cannot give correct results for a small QD edge length for any location of the impurity in the QD; (4) some degeneracy is lifted when the dot is no longer cubic. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Energy spectra of two-electron two-dimensional quantum dots confined by elliptical and bowl-like potentials

The laterally confining potential of quantum dots (QDs) fabricated in semiconductor heterostructures is approximated by an elliptical two-dimensional harmonic-oscillator well or a bowl-like circular well. The energy spectrum of two interacting electrons in these potentials is calculated in the effective-mass approximation as a function of dot size and characteristic frequency of the confining potential by the exact diagonalization method. Energy level crossover is displayed according to the ratio of the characteristic frequencies of the elliptical confinement potential along the y axis and that along the x axis. Investigating the rovibrational spectrum with pair-correlation function and conditional probability distribution, we could see the violation of circular symmetry. However, there are still some symmetries left in the elliptical QDs. When the QDs are confined by a "bowl-like" potential, the removal of the degeneracy in the energy levels of QDs is found. The distribution of energy levels is different for the different heights of the barriers. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.

Numerical evaluation of energy loss rate for hot carriers in quantum wells

Using the Frohlich potential associated with realistic optical phonon modes in quantum well systems, the energy loss rates of hot electrons, holes, and electron-hole pairs are calculated, with special emphasis on the effects of carrier density, hot phonon population, quantum well width, and phonon dispersion on the hot-carrier relaxation process in quasi-two-dimensional systems. (C) 1998 Academic Press Limited.

Electron concentration dependence of exciton localization and freeze-out at local potential fluctuations in InN films

InN films with electron concentration ranging from n similar to 10(17) to 10(20) cm(-3) grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) were investigated by variable-temperature photoluminescence and absorption measurements. The energy positions of absorption edge as well as photoluminescence peak of these InN samples with electron concentration above 10(18) cm(-3) show a distinct S-shape temperature dependence. With a model of potential fluctuations caused by electron-impurity interactions, the behavior can be quantitatively explained in terms of exciton freeze-out in local potential minima at sufficiently low temperatures, followed by thermal redistribution of the localized excitons when the band gap shrinks with increasing temperature. The exciton localization energy sigma (loc) is found to follow the n (5/12) power relation, which testifies to the observed strong localization effects in InN with high electron concentrations.

Electroluminescence behavior of ZnO/Si heterojunctions: Energy band alignment and interfacial microstructure

n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction light-emitting diodes (LEDs) show weak defect-related electroluminescence (EL). In order to analyze the origin of the weak EL, the energy band alignment and interfacial microstructure of ZnO/Si heterojunction are investigated by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The valence band offset (VBO) is determined to be 3.15 +/- 0.15 eV and conduction band offset is -0.90 +/- 0.15 eV, showing a type-II band alignment. The higher VBO means a high potential barrier for holes injected from Si into ZnO, and hence, charge carrier recombination takes place mainly on the Si side rather than the ZnO layer. It is also found that a 2.1 nm thick SiOx interfacial layer is formed at the ZnO/Si interface. The unavoidable SiOx interfacial layer provides to a large number of nonradiative centers at the ZnO/Si interface and gives rise to poor crystallinity in the ZnO films. The weak EL from the n-ZnO/p-Si LEDs can be ascribed to the high ZnO/Si VBO and existence of the SiOx interfacial layer.

INFLUENCE OF THE 90-DEGREES PARTIAL DISLOCATION CORE STRUCTURE IN SILICON ON ENERGY-LEVELS

An LCAO-scheme taking into account 10 atomic orbitals (s-, p-, and d-type) is used to calculate the electronic structure of the reconstructed 90-degrees partial dislocation in Si. Two different valence force fields producing deviating results are used for modelling the core structure. Geometrical data published by another group is also used. The aim is to explore the influence of geometry on energy levels. We find that the band structure depends sensitively on bond angles. Using data determined by the Tersoff potential we obtain two bands of which the upper one penetrates deeply into the indirect band gap while the geometry minimizing the simple Keating potential leaves the gap completely clear of dislocation states. Thus, from a theoretical point of view, the chief difficulty in calculating the electronic structure of the reconstructed 90-degrees partial is the lack of accurate structural information.

SCATTERING AND RESONANT-TUNNELING THEORY FOR A CYLINDRICAL WELL IN PLANAR STRUCTURES

A two-dimensional atomic scattering theory is developed for scattering of electrons by a circularly symmetric quantum structure in the two-dimensional electron gas. It is found that the scattering cross section oscillates as a function of ka where k is the electron wave vector and a is the radius of the cylindrical potential barrier. If there is a quantum well inside the potential barrier, there appears a series of sharp resonant-tunneling peaks superposed on the original scattering-cross-section curves. The width of the resonant-tunneling peak depends sensitively on the thickness, the height of the potential barrier, and the electron energy.

SHEAR-DEFORMATION-POTENTIAL CONSTANT OF THE CONDUCTION-BAND MINIMA OF SI - EXPERIMENTAL-DETERMINATION BY THE DEEP-LEVEL CAPACITANCE TRANSIENT METHOD

The shear-deformation-potential constant XI-u of the conduction-band minima of Si has been measured by a method which we called deep-level capacitance transient under uniaxial stress. The uniaxial-stress (F) dependence of the electron emission rate e(n) from deep levels to the split conduction-band minima of Si has been analyzed. Theoretical curves are in good agreement with experimental data for the S0 and S+ deep levels in Si. The values of XI-u obtained by the method are 11.1 +/- 0.3 eV at 148.9 K and 11.3 +/- 0.3 eV at 223.6 K. The analysis and the XI-u values obtained are also valuable for symmetry determination of deep electron traps in Si.

Electronic states and magnetotransport in quantum waveguides with nonuniform magnetic fields

The electronic states and magnetotransport properties of quantum waveguides (QW's) in the presence of nonuniform magnetic fields perpendicular to the QW plane are investigated theoretically. It is found that the magnetoconductance of those structures as a function of Fermi energy exhibits stepwise variation or square-wave-like oscillations, depending on the specific distributions (both in magnitude and direction) of nonuniform magnetic fields in QW's. We have investigated the dual magnetic strip structures and three magnetic strip structures. The character of the magnetotransport is closely related to the effective magnetic potential and the energy-dispersion spectrum of electron in the structures. It is found that dispersion relations seem to be combined by different sets of dispersion curves that belong to different individual magnetic subwaveguides. The magnetic effective potential leads to the coupling of states and the substantial distortion of the original dispersion curves at the interfaces in which the abrupt change of magnetic fields appears. Magnetic scattering states are created. Only in some three magnetic strip structures, these scattering states produce the dispersion relations with oscillation structures superimposed on the bulk Landau levels. It is the oscillatory behavior in dispersions that leads to the occurrence of square-wave-like modulations in conductance.

Influence of the lateral confining potential on the ballistic electron transport in a quantum wire

A theoretical investigation of ballistic electron transport in a quantum wire with soft wall confinement is presented. A general method of the electron transmission calculation is proposed for structures with complicated geometries. The effects of the lateral guiding potential on ballistic transport are investigated using three soft wall confinement models and the results are compared with those obtained from the hard wall confinement approximation. It is shown that the calculated transmission coefficients are notably dependent on the lateral confining potential especially when the incident electron energy is larger than the energy of the second transverse mode. It is found that the transmission profile obtained from soft wall confinement models exhibits simpler resonance structures than that obtained from the hard wall confinement approximation. Our results suggest that only in the single-channel regime the hard wall confinement approximation can give reasonable results.