InAs QDs on InP: polarization insensitive SOA and non-radiative Auger processes

An efficient mechanical and electronic axial approximation of the strained 8 × 8 Hamiltonian is proposed for zinc-blende nanostructures with a cylindrical shape on (100) substrates. Vertically stacked InAs/InP columnar quantum dots (CQDs) for polarization insensitive semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) in telecommunications applications are studied theoretically. Non-radiative Auger processes in InAs/InP quantum dots (QDs) are also investigated. It is shown that a multiband approach is necessary in both cases.     

Slow and fast light in quantum-well and quantum-dot semiconductor optical amplifiersInvited Paper

Slow and fast light in quantum-well (QW) and quantum-dot (QD) semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) using nonlinear quantum optical effects are presented. We demonstrate electrical and optical controls of fast light using the coherent population oscillation (CPO) and four wave mixing (FWM) in the gain regime of QW SOAs. We then consider the dependence on the wavelength and modal gain of the pump in QW SOAs. To enhance the tunable photonic delay of a single QW SOA, we explore a serial cascade of multiple amplifiers. A model for the number of QW SOAs in series with variable optical attenuation is developed and matched to the experimental data. We demonstrate the scaling law and the bandwidth control by using the serial cascade of multiple QW SOAs. Experimentally, we achieve a phase change of 160° and a scaling factor of four at 1 GHz using the cascade of four QW SOAs. Finally, we investigate CPO and FWM slow and fast light of QD SOAs. The experiment shows that the bandwidth of the time delay as a function of the modulation frequency changes in the absorption and gain regimes due to the carrier-lifetime variation. The tunable phase shift in QD SOA is compared between the ground- and first excited-state transitions with different modal gains.     

Theory of pulse propagation and four-wave mixing in a quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifier

A theory, combining the relations of pulse traveling into quantum dot (QD) semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) with the four-wave mixing (FWM) theory in these SOAs, is developed. Carrier density pulsation (CDP), carrier heating (CH), and spectral hole burning (SHB) contributions on FWM efficiency are discussed. Effect of QD ground state and wetting layer are included. An additional parameter appears in the gain integral relation of QD SOAs. An equation formulating pulses in the QD SOAs is introduced. We have found that FWM in QD SOAs is detuning and is pulse width dependent. For short pulses, CH is dominant at high detunings (10–100 GHz) while at higher detunings (>100 GHz) the SHB is the dominant one. Undesired paunch behavior is shown in QD SOAs then, CDP must be reduced.     

Four-wave mixing in long wavelength III-nitride QD-SOAs

Four wave mixing analysis is stated for quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifiers (QD SOAs) using the propagation equations (including nonlinear propagation contribution) coupled with the QD rate equations under the saturation assumption. Long wavelength III-nitride InN and AIInN QD SOAs are simulated. Asymmetric behavior due to linewidth enhancement factor is assigned. P-doping increases efficiency. Lossless efficiency for InAlN QDs for longer radii is obtained. Carrier heating is shown to have a considerable effect and a detuning dependence is expected at most cases. InN QD SOAs shown to have higher efficiency.     

Strain distribution and electronic states in stacked InAs/GaAs quantum dots with dot spacing 0–

We have calculated the strain distribution and electronic structures in stacked InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) with the dot spacing 6–. We used the elastic continuum theory for the strain distribution, and the 8-band k·p theory for the electronic structures. For the triply stacked QDs, the light-hole (LH) component of the hole ground state increases with decreasing the dot spacing. The LH component in the columnar QD (dot spacing ) reaches 21.1% which is 4.8 times larger than that in the single QD due to the reduction of the biaxial strain. Further increase of the LH component (up to 28.6%) is obtained in the fivefold-stacked columnar QD. This result suggests a possibility of increase in the TM-mode transition in the columnar QDs.     

Control of unpolarized emission in closely stacked InAs quantum dot structure

In this work, we studied the effect of some growth parameters on the polarization behavior of InAs/GaAs closely stacked quantum dot (CSQDs). In particular, we focused on the surface reconstruction time of GaAs spacer, its thickness and the number of QD layers. We found that the most effective parameter to enhance the TM/TE intensity ratio is the surface reconstruction time of the GaAs spacer before the subsequent QD deposition. By varying this parameter between 20 s and 120 s, a TM/TE ratio as high as 0.86 has been achieved. A further fine tuning of GaAs spacer thickness and QD layer number increased this ratio up to a value of 0.92 in structures containing only 3 QD layers.     

Investigation of gain recovery for InAs/GaAs quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifiers by rate equation simulation

The gain recoveries in quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifiers (QD SOAs) are numerically studied by rate equation simulation. Similar to the optical pump-probe experiment, the injection of double 150 fs optical pulses is used to simulate the gain recovery of a weak continuous signal under different injection levels, inhomogeneous broadenings, detuning wavelengths, and pulse signal energies for the QD SOAs. The obtained gain recoveries are then fitted by a response function with multiple exponential terms to determine the response times. The gain recovery can be described by three exponential terms with the time constants, which can be explained as carrier relaxation from the excited state to the ground state, carrier captured by the excited state from the wetting layer, and the supply of the wetting layer carriers. The fitted lifetimes decrease with the increase of the injection currents under gain unsaturation, slightly decrease with the decrease of inhomogeneous broadening of QDs, and increase with the increase of detuning wavelength between continuous signal and pulse signal and the increase of the pulse energy.     

Optical anisotropy and the direction of polarization of exciton emissions in a semiconductor quantum dot:Effect of heavy-and light-hole mixing

The dependence of the directions of polarization of exciton emissions, fine structure splittings(FSS), and polarization anisotropy on the light-and heavy-hole(LH–HH) mixing in semiconductor quantum dots(QDs) is investigated using a mesoscopic model. In general, all QDs have a four-fold exciton ground state. Two exciton states have directions of polarization in the growth-plane, while the other two are along the growth direction of the QD. The LH–HH mixing does affect the FSS and polarization anisotropy of bright exciton states in the growth-plane in the low symmetry QDs(e.g., C_(2V),C_S, C_1), while it has no effect on the FSS and polarization anisotropy in high symmetry QDs(e.g., C_(3V), D_(2d)). When the hole ground state is pure HH or LH, the bright exciton states in the growth-plane are normal to each other. The LH–HH mixing affects the relative intensities and directions of bright exciton states in the growth-plane of the QD. The polarization anisotropy of exciton emissions in the growth-plane of the QD is independent of the phase angle of LH–HH mixing but strongly depends on the magnitude of LH–HH mixing in low symmetry QDs.     

Design issues of 1.55 µm emitting GaInNAs quantum dots

We present a theoretical study of the optical properties of GaInNAs quantum dot (QD) structures, emitting at 1.55 µm wavelength. The theoretical model is based on a 10 × 10 k · p band-anti-crossing Hamiltonian, incorporating valence, conduction and nitrogen-induced bands. We have investigated the influence of the nitrogen to the conduction band mixing, and piezoelectric field on the ground state optical matrix element. For QDs grown on GaAs substrate with a reduced amount of indium and an increased amount of nitrogen in the QD the e _x polarized optical matrix element becomes on the average larger and less sensitive to the variation of both the QD shape and size than is the case of an InNAs QD. For the QD grown on InP substrate the dominant optical dipole matrix element is of the e _z light polarization. Our results identify the specific In and N content in the QDs required for optimal long-wavelength emission on both substrates.     

Matrix-Based Polarization Analysis and Application of Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers

Employing the Mueller matrix method with polar decomposition, we analyse the polarization rotation (PR) effects in semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) and demonstrate that the PR angle is linear to the birefringence dependent gain while the average PR coefficient is about 0.625 for the employed SOA. It is further evident that the current and optical intensity dependent PRs rotate reversely around the same axis. Thus we propose an optical-electric synchronous control scheme to obtain orthogonal polarization states with power-equalization, and implement it by a polarization-sensitive SOA. The polarization duration time is about 10 ns which is applicable to high-speed polarization state generation.     

基于SOA全光偏振调制的双信道光传输系统的仿真与分析

仿真并分析了基于半导体光放大器全光偏振调制的双信道光传输系统模型.该系统分别利用两级半导体光放大器的交叉偏振调制效应(XPolM),将两路独立的强度调制的抽运光变换到一路探测光的两个正交的偏振态上,实现双通道偏振复用的全光数据传输.首先对单个半导体光放大器的动力学过程进行了理论分析,数值计算了具有不同抽运光功率的半导体光放大器对探测光偏振态的影响,进而对双半导体光放大器偏振复用系统的调制/解调原理进行了分析,模拟仿真了双半导体光放大器的双通路偏振复用的调制及解调过程,仿真结果与实验结果相符.     

Microstructural and optical properties of multiple closely stacked InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dot arrays

The microstructural and the optical properties of multiple closely stacked InAs/GaAs quantum dot (QD) arrays were investigated by using atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The AFM and the TEM images showed that high-quality vertically stacked InAs QD self-assembled arrays were embedded in the GaAs barriers. The PL peak position corresponding to the interband transitions from the ground electronic subband to the ground heavy-hole band (E₁-HH₁) of the InAs/GaAs QDs shifted to higher energy with increasing GaAs spacer thickness. The activation energy of the electrons confined in the InAs QDs increased with decreasing with GaAs spacer thickness due to the coupling effect. The present results can help to improve the understanding of the microstructural and the optical in multiple closely stafcked InAs/GaAs QD arrays.     

Selective growth of stacked InAs quantum dots by using the templates formed by the Nano-Jet Probe

We have demonstrated the selective area growth of stacked self-assembled InAs quantum dot (QD) arrays in the desired regions on a substrate and confirmed the photoluminescence (PL) emission exhibited by them at room temperature. These InAs QDs are fabricated by the use of a specially designed atomic force microscope cantilever referred to as the Nano-Jet Probe (NJP). By using the NJP, two-dimensional arrays with ordered In nano-dots are fabricated in the desired square regions on a GaAs substrate and directly converted into InAs QD arrays through the subsequent annealing by the irradiation of As flux. By using the converted QD arrays as strain templates, self-organized InAs QDs are stacked. These stacked QDs exhibit the PL emission peak at a wavelength of 1.02 μm.     

Strain interactions and defect formation in stacked InGaAs quantum dot and dot-in-well structures

The growth of high-quality stacked quantum dot (QD) structures represents one of the key challenges for future device applications. Electronic coupling between QDs requires closely separated electronic levels and thin barrier layers, requiring near identical composition and shape, despite strong strain interactions. This paper presents a detailed characterization study of stacked InGaAs QD and InAs/InGaAs dot-in-well (DWELL) structures using cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. For In_.5Ga_.5As/GaAs QD structures we have observed optimized stacking using a barrier thickness 12 nm.We also report studies of stacking in DWELL laser structures. Despite reports of very low threshold currents in such lasers, designed for 1.3 μm emission, performance is limited by gain saturation and thermal excitation effects. We have explored solutions to these problems by stacking multiple DWELL layers of three, five and 10 repeats. Initial attempts at stacked multilayer structures, particularly samples with a large number of repeats, produced variable results, with a number of the final devices characterized by poor emission and electrical characteristics. Analysis by transmission electron microscopy has identified the presence of large defective regions arising from the complex interaction of dots on several planes and propagating threading dislocations into the cladding layers. The origin of this defect is identified as the coalescence of QDs at very high density and the resulting dislocation propagating to higher dot planes. An effective modified method to reduce the defect density by growing the barrier layer at higher temperature will be discussed. Finally, we report the growth of a stacked 10-layer structure using relatively thin barriers, grown using this technique.     

Effects of a longitudinal magnetic field on spin injection and detection in InAs/GaAs quantum dot structures

Effects of a longitudinal magnetic field on optical spin injection and detection in InAs/GaAs quantum dot (QD) structures are investigated by optical orientation spectroscopy. An increase in the optical and spin polarization of the QDs is observed with increasing magnetic field in the range 0-2?T, and is attributed to suppression of exciton spin depolarization within the QDs that is promoted by the hyperfine interaction and anisotropic electron-hole exchange interaction. This leads to a corresponding enhancement in spin detection efficiency of the QDs by a factor of up to 2.5. At higher magnetic fields, when these spin depolarization processes are quenched, the electron spin polarization in anisotropic QD structures (such as double QDs that are preferably aligned along a specific crystallographic axis) still exhibits a rather strong field dependence under non-resonant excitation. In contrast, such a field dependence is practically absent in more 'isotropic' QD structures (e.g.?single QDs). We attribute the observed effect to stronger electron spin relaxation in the spin injectors (i.e.?wetting layer and GaAs barriers) of the lower-symmetry QD structures, which also explains the lower spin injection efficiency observed in these structures.     

All-optical switching and passive mode-locking based on non-linear polarization rotation in a semiconductor quantum well amplifier

Owing to differences in the selection rules of electron transitions between TE and TM modes in a quantum well structure, and optical amplifier with such a structure manifests linear birefringence and anisotropy of gain-absorption saturation. The anisotropy leads to the evolution of power-dependent polarization in the optical amplifier. We demonstrate experimentally efficient non-linear self-switching based on this phenomenon in an InGaAs/GaAs single quantum well amplifier. Also, by utilizing the non-linear polarization evolution, we show numerically passive mode-locking of a semiconductor laser with a ring cavity.     

Linear dipole behavior of single quantum dots encased in metal oxide semiconductor nanoparticles films

Understanding of charge/energy exchange processes and interfacial interactions that occur between quantum dots (QDs) and the metal oxides is of critical importance to these QD-based optoelectronic devices. This work reports on linear dipole behavior of single near-infrared emitting CdSeTe/ZnS core/shell QDs which are encased in indium tin oxide (ITO) semiconductor nanoparticles films. A strong polarization anisotropy in photoluminescence emission is observed by defocused wide-field imaging and polarization measurement techniques, and the average polarization degree is up to 0.45. A possible mechanism for the observation is presented in which the electrons, locating at single QD surface from ITO by electron transfer due to the equilibration of the Fermi levels, result in a significant Stark distortion of the QD electron/hole wavefunctions. The Stark distortion results in the linear polarization property of the single QDs. The investigation of linear dipole behavior for single QDs encased in ITO films would be helpful for further improving QD-based device performance.     

半导体光放大器引起的串扰及其抑制技术

由于半导体光放大器(SOA)的增益饱和效应,在波分复用系统中.每个信道的增益受到复用的其它信道的影响.SOA引起的各信道之间的串扰严重限制了其应用.理论研究了SOA增益饱和效应引起的信道间串扰.数值模拟了多路信道复用时系统的误码率随复用信道数和光功率的变化情况,发现随着复用信道数的增加SOA增益饱和引起的信道间串扰越来越严重.对SOA中串扰的抑制方法进行了理论和实验研究.数值模拟发现连续光注入可以抑制输出功率的波动,从而减小误码率,当复用10个信道时,连续光注入可以使功率代价减小2 dB;实验验证了两信道的40 Gb/s系统中,注入连续光可以减少SOA引起的信道间串扰.     

Slow and fast light in quantum dot based semiconductor optical amplifiers

Recent progress in the field of quantum dot/dash based semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) for slow and fast light is discussed. Room temperature fast light has been obtained in InAs/InP QDash based SOAs by means of coherent population oscillation and four wave mixing (FWM) effects. Typical optical delays amount to 55 ps at 2 GHz. Growth optimization of the QDashes allowed us to achieve high modal gain, leading to very similar performances, e.g. gain and FWM efficiency, to those of a bulk SOA. A novel approach based on linear spectrograms is also introduced to measure the phase shift induced by wave mixing in an SOA.