n-type Ge-SiGe quantum cascade structure utilizing quantum wells for electrons in the L and Gamma valleys

In this letter, we propose an n-type vertical transition bound-to-continuum Ge-SiGe quantum cascade structure utilizing electronic quantum wells in the L and F valleys of the Ge layers. The optical transition levels are located in the quantum wells in the L valley. Under a bias of 80 kV/cm, the carriers in the lower level are extracted by miniband transport and L - Gamma tunneling into the subband in the Gamma well of the next period. And then the electrons are injected into the upper level by ultrafast intervalley scattering, which not only effectively increases the tunneling rate and suppresses the thermal backfilling of electrons, but also enhances the injection efficiency of the upper level. The performance of the laser is discussed.

Investigation on the structural origin of n-type conductivity in InN films

This work presents a study of the correlation between the electrical properties and the structural defects in nominally undoped InN films. It is found that the density of edge-type threading dislocations (TDs) considerably affects the electron concentration and mobility in InN films. The Hall-effect measured electron concentration increases, while the Hall mobility decreases with the increase in the edge-type TD density. With the combination of secondary ion mass spectrometry and positron annihilation analysis, we suggest that donor-type point defects at the edge-type TD lines may serve as dominant donors in InN films and affect the carrier mobility.

Analytical model of spin filtering effect and its experimental verification in a forward-biased iron-metal-Al2O3-n-type GaAs tunneling structure under optical spin orientation

An analytical model for the spin filtering transport in a ferromagnetic-metal - Al2O3 - n-type semiconductor tunneling structure has been developed, and demonstrated that the ratio of the helicity-modulated photo-response to the chopped one is proportional to the sum of the relative asymmetry in conductance of two opposite spin-polarized tunneling channels and the MCD effect of the ferromagnetic metal film. The performed measurement in an iron-metal/Al2O3/n-type GaAs tunneling structure under the optical spin orientation has verified that all the aspects of the experimental results are very well in accordance with our model in the regime of the spin filtering. After the MCD effect of the iron film is calibrated by an independent measurement, the physical quantity of Delta G(t)/G(t) (Delta G(t) = G(t)(up arrow) - G(t)(down arrow) is the difference of the conductance between two opposite spin tunneling channels, G(t) =( G(t)(up arrow) + G(t)(down arrow))/2 the averaged tunneling conductance), which concerns us most, can be determined quantitatively with a high sensitivity in the framework of our analytical model. Copyright (c) EPLA, 2008.

Preliminary design of a tensile-strained p-type Si/SiGe quantum well infrared photodetector

Considering tensile-strained p-type Si/Si1-yGey quantum wells grown on a relaxed Si1-xGex ( 0 0 1) virtual substrate ( y < x), the hole subband structure and the effective masses of the first bound hole state in the quantum wells are calculated by using the 6 x 6 k center dot p method. Designs for tensile-strained p-type quantum well infrared photodetectors ( QWIPs) based on the bound-to-quasi-bound transitions are discussed, which are expected to retain the ability of coupling normally incident infrared radiation without any grating couplers, have lower dark current than n-type QWIPs and also have a larger absorption coefficient and better transport characteristics than normal unstrained or compressive-strained p-type QWIPs.

Mg acceptor energy levels in AlxInyGa1-x-yN quaternary alloys: An approach to overcome the p-type doping bottleneck in nitrides

The Mg-Ga acceptor energy levels in GaN and random Al8In4Ga20N32 quaternary alloys are calculated using the first-principles band-structure method. We show that due to wave function localization, the MgGa acceptor energy level in the alloy is significantly lower than that of GaN, although the two materials have nearly identical band gaps. Our study demonstrates that forming AlxInyGa1-x-yN quaternary alloys can be a useful approach to lower acceptor ionization energy in the nitrides and thus provides an approach to overcome the p-type doping difficulty in the nitride system.

Does an enhanced yellow luminescence imply a reduction of electron mobility in n-type GaN?

It is studied whether there is any regular relationship between the yellow luminescence band and electron mobility of n-type GaN. For a series of GaN samples grown with the same Si doping, it is found that the electron mobility decreases with an increase of relative intensity of yellow luminescence, accompanied by an increase of edge dislocation density. Further research indicates that it is acceptors introduced by edge dislocations which lead to the concomitant changes of yellow luminescence and electron mobility. Similar changes are induced by Si doping in the n-type GaN samples with relatively low edge dislocation density. However, the relationship between the yellow luminescence and electron mobility of n-type GaN is not a simple one. A light Si doping may simultaneously increase yellow luminescence and electron mobility when Si doping plays a dominant role in reducing the carrier scattering. This means that even the intensity of yellow luminescence is often used as an indicator of material quality for GaN, it does not have any monotonous correlation with the electron mobility of GaN. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

The field emission properties of nonpolar a-plane n-type GaN films grown on nano-patterned sapphire substrates

Si-doped nonpolar a-plane GaN films were grown on nanopatterned sapphire substrates by a low-pressure metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) system. The structure, morphology and field emission properties of the sample were studied by means of high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and field emission measurement. The XRD analysis shows that the sample is a nonpolar a-plane (11 (2) over bar0) GaN film. The field emission measurement shows that the nonpolar GaN films exhibit excellent field emission properties with a threshold emission field of as low as 10 V/mu m at a current density of 0.63 mu A/cm(2), and a high field emission current density of 74 mA/cm(2) at an applied field of 24 V/mu m. Moreover, the Fowler-Nordheirn plot of the sample fits a near linear relation. (C) 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Role of edge dislocation and Si impurity in linking the blue luminescence and yellow luminescence in n-type GaN films

A close relationship is found between the blue and yellow luminescence bands in n-type GaN films, which are grown without intentional acceptor doping. The intensity ratio of blue luminescence to yellow luminescence (I-BL/I-YL) decreases with the increase in edge dislocation densities as demonstrated by the (102) full width at half maximum of x-ray diffraction. In addition, the I-BL/I-YL ratio decreases with the increase in Si doping. It is suggested that the edge dislocation and Si impurity play important roles in linking the blue and yellow luminescence.

Band-gap bowing and p-type doping of (Zn, Mg, Be)O wide-gap semiconductor alloys: a first-principles study

Using a first-principles band-structure method and a special quasirandom structure (SQS) approach, we systematically calculate the band gap bowing parameters and p-type doping properties of (Zn, Mg, Be)O related random ternary and quaternary alloys. We show that the bowing parameters for ZnBeO and MgBeO alloys are large and dependent on composition. This is due to the size difference and chemical mismatch between Be and Zn(Mg) atoms. We also demonstrate that adding a small amount of Be into MgO reduces the band gap indicating that the bowing parameter is larger than the band-gap difference. We select an ideal N atom with lower p atomic energy level as dopant to perform p-type doping of ZnBeO and ZnMgBeO alloys. For N doped in ZnBeO alloy, we show that the acceptor transition energies become shallower as the number of the nearest neighbor Be atoms increases. This is thought to be because of the reduction of p-d repulsion. The N-O acceptor transition energies are deep in the ZnMgBeO quaternary alloy lattice-matched to GaN substrate due to the lower valence band maximum. These decrease slightly as there are more nearest neighbor Mg atoms surrounding the N dopant. The important natural valence band alignment between ZnO, MgO, BeO, ZnBeO, and ZnMgBeO quaternary alloy is also investigated.

Temperature Sensitivity Dependence on Cavity Length in p-Type Doped and Undoped 1.3-mu m InAs-GaAs Quantum-Dot Lasers

We have fabricated 1.3-mu m InAs-GaAs quantum-dot (QD) lasers with and without p-type modulation doping and their characteristics have been investigated. We find that introducing p-type doping in active regions can improve the temperature stability of 1.3-mu m InAs-GaAs QD lasers, but it does not, increase the saturation modal gain of the QD lasers. The saturation modal gain obtained from the two types of lasers is identical (17.5 cm(-1)). Moreover, the characteristic temperature increases as cavity length increases for the two types of lasers, and it improves more significantly for the lasers with p-type doping due to their higher gain.

p-type doping of GaInNAs quaternary alloys

Using the first-principles band-structure method, we investigate the p-type doping properties and band structural parameters of the random Ga1-xInxN1-yAsy quaternary alloys. We show that the Mg-Ga substitution is a better choice than ZnGa to realize the p-type doping because of the lower transition energy level and lower formation energy. The natural valence band alignment of GaAs and GaInNAs alloys is also calculated, and we find that the valence band maximum becomes higher with the increasing in composition. Therefore, we can tailor the band offset as desired which is helpful to confine the electrons effectively in optoelectronic devices. (C) 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V.

New type of multimode-interference-type thermo-optic variable optical attenuator

A thermo-optic variable optical attenuator (VOA) based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and multimode-interference coupler is fabricated. Not a single-mode but a multimode waveguide is used as the input and output structures of the optical field, which greatly reduces the coupling loss of the VOA with a normal single-mode fiber. The insertion loss of the fabricated VOA is 2.52 to 2.82 dB at the wavelength of 1520 to 1570 nm. The polarization dependent loss is 0.28 to 0.45 dB at the same wavelength range. Its maximum attenuation range is up to 26.3 dB when its power consumption is 369 mW. The response frequency of the fabricated VOA is about 10 kHz. (C) 2004 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

Study on the internal reflection of the multimode-interference-type device

The internal reflection of the multimode-interference (MMI)-type device is calculated with the bidirectional beam propagation method. The calculated results indicate that the difference of the effective refractive indices between the core region and the surrounding region has a determining effect on the internal reflection of the MMI-type device. The output taper for the MMI-type combiner and splitter has a more evident effect on the internal reflection than the input taper. The internal reflection decreases with increasing the end width of the taper. For the MMI-type device with appropriate tapers, the internal reflection does not show evident degradation with the deviation of the length of the MMI region from its optimal value. (C) 2004 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

Molecular beam epitaxy growth and photoluminescence of type-II (GaAs1-xSbx/InyGa1-yAs)/GaAs bilayer quantum well

We report a systematical study on the molecular beam epitaxy growth and optical property of (GaAs1-xSbx/In-y Ga1-yAs)/GaAs bilayer quantum well (BQW) structures. It is shown that the growth temperature of the wells and the sequence of layer growth have significant influence on the interface quality and the subsequent photoluminescence (PL) spectra. Under optimized growth conditions, three high-quality (GaAsSb0.29/In0.4GaAs)/GaAs BQWs are successfully fabricated and a room temperature PL at 1314 nm is observed. The transition mechanism in the BQW is also discussed by photoluminescence and photoreflectance measurements. The results confirm experimentally a type-II band alignment of the interface between the GaAsSb and InGaAs layers.

Decoherence of two Josephson charge qubits coupled via sigma(x)sigma(x)-type coupling and exposed to sigma(x) noise

Decoherence properties of two Josephson charge qubits coupled via the sigma(x)sigma(x) type are investigated. Considering the special structure of this new design, the dissipative effects arising from the circuit impedance providing the fluxes for the qubits' superconducting quantum interference device loops coupled to the sigma(x) qubit variables are considered. The results show that the overall decoherence effects are significantly strong in this qubit design. It is found that the dissipative effects are stronger in the case of coupling to two uncorrelated baths than are found in the case of one common bath.