Zero biased Ge-on-Si photodetector with a bandwidth of 4.72 GHz at 1550 nm

High quality Ge was epitaxially grown on Si using ultrahigh vacuum/chemical vapor deposition (UHV/CVD). This paper demonstrates efficient germanium-on-silicon p-i-n photodetectors with 0.8 mu m Ge, with responsivities as high as 0.38 and 0.21 A/W at 1.31 and 1.55 mu m, respectively. The dark current density is 0.37 mA/cm(2) and 29.4 mA/cm(2) at 0 V and a reverse bias of 0.5 V. The detector with a diameter of 30 mu m, a 3 dB-bandwidth of 4.72 GHz at an incident wavelength of 1550 nm and zero external bias has been measured. At a reverse bias of 3 V, the bandwidth is 6.28 GHz.

Weak measurement of qubit oscillations with strong response detectors: Violation of the fundamental bound imposed on linear detectors

Qubit measurement by mesoscopic charge detectors has received great interest in the community of mesoscopic transport and solid-state quantum computation, and some controversial issues still remain unresolved. In this work, we revisit the continuous weak measurement of a solid-state qubit by single electron transistors (SETs) in nonlinear-response regime. For two SET models typically used in the literature, we find that the signal-to-noise ratio can violate the universal upper bound "4," which is imposed quantum mechanically on linear-response detectors. This different result can be understood by means of the cross correlation of the detector currents by viewing the two junctions of the single SET as two detectors. Possible limitation of the potential-scattering approach to this result is also discussed.

Theoretical investigation of intersubband transition in AlxGa1-xN/GaN/AlyGa1-yN step quantum well

A modified self-consistent method is introduced for the design of AlxGa1-xN/GaN step quantum well (SQW) with the position and energy-dependent effective mass. The effects of nonparabolicity are included. It is shown that the nonparabolicity effect is minute for the lowest subband energy level and grows in size for the higher subband states. The effects of nonparabolicity have significant influence on the transition energies and the oscillator strengths and should be taken into account in the investigation of the optical transitions. The strong asymmetric property introduced by the step quantum well magnifies the weak intersubband transition from the ground state to the third state (1 -> 3). It is shown that in an appropriate scope, the intersubband transition (1 -> 3) has the comparable oscillator strength with transition from the ground state to the second one (1 -> 2), which suggests the possible application of the two-color photodetectors. The results of this work should provide useful guidance for the design of optically pumped asymmetric quantum well lasers and quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs). (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Intersubband optical absorption in quantum dots-in-a-well heterostructures

The theoretical analysis of intersubband optical transitions for InAs/ InGaAs quantum dots-in-a-well ( DWELL ) detectors are performed in the framework of effective-mass envelope- function theory. In contrast to InAs/ GaAs quantum dot (QD) structures, the calculated band structure of DWELL quantitatively confirms that an additional InGaAs quantum well effectively lowers the ground state of InAs QDs relative to the conduction-band edge of GaAs and enhances the confinement of electrons. By changing the doping level, the dominant optical transition can occur either between the bound states in the dots or from the ground state in the dots to bound states in the well, which corresponds to the far-infrared and long-wave infrared (LWIR ) peaks in the absorption spectra, respectively. Our calculated results also show that it is convenient to tailor the operating wavelength in the LWIR atmospheric window ( 8 - 12 mu m ) by adjusting the thickness of the InGaAs layer while keeping the size of the quantum dots fixed. Theoretical predictions agree well with the available experimental data. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.

Performance improvement of GaN based Schottky barrier ultraviolet photodetector by adding a thin AlGaN window layer

We propose a new structure of GaN based Schottky barrier ultraviolet photodetector, in which a thin n-type AlGaN window layer is added on the conventional n(-)-GaN/n(+)-GaN device structure. The performance of the Schottky barrier ultraviolet photodetector is found to be improved by the new structure. The simulation result shows that the new structure can reduce the negative effect of surface states on the performance of Schottky barrier GaN photodetectors, improving the quantum efficiency and decreasing the dark current. The investigations suggest that the new photodetector can exhibit a better responsivity by choosing a suitably high carrier concentration and thin thickness for the AlGaN window layer.

Intrasubband and intersubband transitions in GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs multiple quantum wells

Infrared absorption in GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs multiple quantum wells is investigated using a polarizer. Two main peaks, with wave numbers 723 and 1092 cm(-1), are observed. The peak with wave number 1092 cm(-1) corresponds to the 0 -> 1 intersubband transition, while the other one corresponds to the intrasubband transition. The polarized absorbance is one order of magnitude higher than the unpolarized one. The authors attribute the intrasubband transition to the plasma oscillation in the quantum wells.

Estimation of frequency response of directly modulated lasers from optical spectra

A simple method for estimating the frequency responses of directly modulated lasers from optical spectra is presented. The frequency-modulation index and intensity-modulation index of a distributed feedback laser can be obtained through the optical spectrum analyses. The main advantage is that the measurement setup is very simple. Only a microwave source and an optical spectrum analyser are needed and there is no need to use a calibrated broadband photodetector. Experiment shows that the proposed method is as accurate as the swept frequency method using a network analyzer and is applicable to a wide range of modulation powers.

Electronic structure of ZnO wurtzite quantum wires

The electronic structure and optical properties of ZnO wurtzite quantum wires with radius R >= 3 nm are studied in the framework of six-band effective-mass envelope function theory. The hole effective-mass parameters of ZnO wurtzite material are calculated by the empirical pseudopotential method. It is found that the electron states are either two-fold or four-fold degenerate. There is a dark exciton effect when the radius R of the ZnO quantum wires is in the range of [3,19.1] nm (dark range in our model). The dark ranges of other wurtzite semiconductor quantum wires are calculated for comparison. The dark range becomes smaller when the |Delta(so)| is larger, which also happens in the quantum-dot systems. The linear polarization factor of ZnO quantum wires is larger when the temperature is higher.

1.55-mu m resonant cavity enhanced photodiode based on MBE grown Ge quantum dots

Self-assembly Ge quantum dots (QD) on Si and Si/Ge mutli-quantum-wells (MQW) are grown by MBE. The island size and island density was investigated by atomics force microscopy. Ten-layer and twenty-layer MQW were selected for photodiode device fabrication. In photoluminescence (PL), a broad peak around 1.55-mu m wavelength was observed with higher peak intensity for the 10-layer MQW which had less defects than the 20-layer sample. Resonant cavity enhanced (RCE) photodiodes were fabricated by bonding on a SOI wafer. Selected responsivity at 1.55 mu m was successfully demonstrated. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Interband and intraband photocurrent of self-assembled InAs/InAlAs/InP nanostructures

The interband and intraband photocurrent properties of InAs/InAlAs/InP nanostructures have been studied. The doping effect on the photoluminescence properties of the quantum dots and the anisotropy of the quantum wire interband photocurrent properties are presented and discussed. With the help of interband excitation, an intraband photocurrent signal of the InAs nanostructures is observed. With the increase of the interband excitation power, the intraband photocurrent signal first increases and then decreases, which can be explained by the variance of the ground state occupation of the InAs nanostructures and the change of the mobility and lifetime of the electrons. The temperature dependence of the intraband photocurrent signal of the InAs nanostructures is also investigated.

Absolute measurement of detector quantum efficiency using optical parametric down-conversion pumped by femtosecond laser pulses

Absolute measurement of detector quantum efficiency using optical parametric down-conversion has been extensively studied for the case of a continuous wave pump. In this paper, we have used the temporally and spatially correlated properties of the down-converted photon pairs generated in a nonlinear crystal pumped by a femtosecond laser pulse to perform an absolute measurement of detector quantum efficiency. The measured detector quantum efficiency is in excellent agreement with the measured value in the conventional way. A lens with a long focal length was adopted for efficiently increasing the intensity of the down-conversion entangled photon source.

Characterization of deep levels in Pt-GaN Schottky diodes deposited on intermediate-temperature buffer layers

Gallium nitride (GaN)-based Schottky junctions were fabricated by RF-plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The GaN epitaxial layers were deposited on novel double buffer layers that consist of a conventional low-temperature buffer layer (LTBL) grown at 500 degreesC and an intermediate-temperature buffer layer (ITBL) deposited at 690 degreesC. Low-frequency excess noise and deep level transient Fourier spectroscopy (DLTFS) were measured from the devices. The results demonstrate a significant reduction in the density of deep levels in the devices fabricated with the GaN films grown with an ITBL. Compared to the control sample, which was grown with just a conventional LTBL, a three-order-of-magnitude reduction in the deep levels 0.4 eV below the conduction band minimum (Ec) is observed in the bulk of the thin films using DLTFS measurements.

Structural, optical and intraband absorption properties of vertically aligned In0.32Ga0.68As/GaAs quantum dots superlattices

The self-organization growth of In0.32Ga0.68As/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) superlattices is investigated by molecular beam epitaxy. It is found that high growth temperature and low growth rate are favorable for the formation of perfect vertically aligned QDs superlattices. The aspect ratio (height versus diameter) of QD increases from 0.16 to 0.23 with increase number of bi-layer. We propose that this shape change play a significant role to improve the uniformity of QDs superlattices. Features in the variable temperature photoluminescence characteristics indicate the high uniformity of the QDs. Strong infrared absorption in the 8-12 mum was observed. Our results suggest the promising applications of QDs in normal sensitive infrared photodetectors. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Improved purity of long-wavelength InAsSb epilayers grown by melt epitaxy in fused silica boats

In this study, we first present the process of the melt epitaxial (ME) growth method, and the improvement of low-temperature electron mobility of the long-wavelength InAsSb epilayers grown by ME in a fused silica boat. The electrical properties were investigated by van der Pauw measurement at 300 and 77 K. It is seen that the electron mobility of the InAsSb samples grown by graphite boat decreased from 55,700 to 26,600 cm(2)/V s when the temperature was reduced from 300 to 77 K, while for the samples grown by fused silica boat, the electron mobility increased from 52,600 at 300 K to 54,400 cm(2)/V s at 77 K. The electron mobility of 54,400cm(2)/Vs is the best result, so far, for the InAsSb materials with cutoff wavelength of 8-12 mum at 77 K. This may be attributed to the reduction of the carbon contamination by using a fused silica boat instead of a graphite boat. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

InxGa1-xAs/AlyGa1-yAs/AlzGa1-zAs asymmetric step quantum-well middle wavelength infrared detectors

InxGa1-xAs/AlyGa1-yAs/AlzGa1-zAs asymmetric step quantum-well middle wavelength (3-5 mum) infrared detectors are fabricated. The components display photovoltaic-type photocurrent response as well as the bias-controlled modulation of the peak wavelength of the main response, which is ascribed to the Stark shifts of the intersubband transitions from the local ground states to the extended first excited states in the quantum wells, at the 3-5.3 mum infrared atmospheric transmission window. The blackbody detectivity (D-bb*) of the detectors reaches to about 1.0x10(10) cm Hz(1/2)/W at 77 K under bias of +/-7 V. By expanding the electron wave function in terms of normalized plane wave basis within the framework of the effective-mass envelope-function theory, the linear Stark effects of the intersubband transitions between the ground and first excited states in the asymmetric step well are calculated. The obtained results agree well with the corresponding experimental measurements. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.