Carrier confinement and interband transition properties of InAs/GaAs quantum dots grown by using atomic layer epitaxy

The electrical and the optical properties of InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) grown by using atomic layer epitaxy (ALE) technique were investigated by using capacitance-voltage (C-V) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. C-V curves showed that the plateaus related to the zero-dimensional carrier confinement effect existed and that the number of electrons occupying the InAs QD was approximately 7. The full width at half maxima of the interband transitions from the ground electronic subband to the ground heavy-hole subband and from the first excited electronic state to the first excited state heavy-hole subband were not significantly affected by the temperature variation, indicative of strong confinement of the carriers occupying the InAs QDs. These results can help improve understanding for applications of InAs/GaAs QDs grown by using ALE in high-efficiency electronic and optoelectronic devices.     

Growth and characterization of InAs quantum dots with low-density and long emission wavelength

The growth parameters affecting the deposition of self-assembled InAs quantum dots （QDs） on GaAs substrate by low-pressure metal-organic chemical vapor deposition （MOCVD） are reported. The low-density InAs QDs （- 5 × 10^8cm^-2） are achieved using high growth temperature and low InAs coverage. Photoluminescence （PL） measurements show the good optical quality of low-density QDs. At room temperature, the ground state peak wavelength of PL spectrum and full-width at half-maximum （FWHM） are 1361 nm and 23 meV （35 nm）, respectively, which are obtained as the GaAs capping layer grown using triethylgallium （TEG） and tertiallybutylarsine （TBA）. The PL spectra exhibit three emission peaks at 1361, 1280, and 1204 nm, which correspond to the ground state, the first excited state, and the second excited state of the ODs, respectively.     

Luminescence properties of InAs quantum dots formed by a modified self-assembled method

The luminescence properties of self-assembled InAs quantum dots (QDs) on GaAs (1 0 0) substrates grown by molecular beam epitaxy have been investigated using temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved PL (TRPL). InAs QDs were grown using an In-interruption growth technique, in which the indium flux was periodically interrupted. InAs QDs grown using In-interruption showed reduced PL linewidth, redshifted PL emission energy, increased energy level spacing between the ground state and the first excited state, and reduced decay time, indicating an improvement in the size distribution and size/shape of QDs.     

Low Density Self-Assembled InAs/GaAs Quantum Dots Grown by Metal Organic Chemical Vapour Deposition

The self-assembled InAs quantum dots （QDs） on GaAs substrates with low density （5×10^8 cm^-2） are achieved using relatively higher growth temperature and low InAs coverage by low-pressure metal-organic chemical vapour deposition. The macro-PL spectra exhibit three emission peaks at 1361, 1280 and 1204nm, corresponding to the ground level （GS）, the first excited state （ES1） and the second excited state （ES2） of the QDs, respectively, which are obtained when the GaAs capping layer is grown using triethylgallium and tertiallybutylarsine. As a result of micro-PL, only a few peaks from individual dots have been observed. The exciton-biexciton behaviour was clearly observed at low temperature.     

Photoluminescence of InAs Self-Organized Quantum Dots Formation on InP Substrate by MOCVD

In this letter, we present results of photoluminescence (PL) emission from single-layer and multilayer InAs self-organized quantum dots (QDs), which were grown on (001) InP substrate. The room temperature PL peak of the single-layer QDs locates at 1608 nm, and full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the PL peak is 71 meV. The PL peak of the multilayer QDs locates at 1478 nm, PL intensity of which is stronger than that of single-layer QDs. The single-layer QD PL spectra also display excited state emission and state filling as the excitation intensity is increased. Low temperature PL spectra show a weak peak between the peaks of QDs and wetting layer (WL), which suggests the recombination between electrons in the WL and holes in the dots.     

Phonon-assisted polar exciton–transitions in self-organized InAs/GaAs quantum dots

Phonon-assisted exciton transitions are investigated for self-organized InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) using selectively excited photoluminescence (PL) and PL excitation spectroscopy. The results unambiguously demonstrate intrinsic recombination in the coherent InAs/GaAs QDs and the absence of a Stokes shift between ground state absorption and emission. Phonon-sidebands corresponding to a phonon energy of 34 meV are resolved and Huang–Rhys parameters of 0.015 and 0.08 are found for phonon-assisted emission and absorption, respectively, which are about one order of magnitude larger than in bulk InAs. Calculations of the exciton–LO–phonon interaction based on an adiabatic approximation and realistic wave functions for ideal pyramidal InAs/GaAs QDs show this enhanced polar coupling to result from the particular confinement and the strain-induced piezoelectric potential in such strained low-symmetry QDs.     

Optical properties of 1.3-μm InAs/GaAs quantum dots grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition

The optical properties of self-assembled InAs quantum dots （QDs） on GaAs substrate grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition （MOCVD） are reported. Photoluminescence （PL） measurements prove the good optical quality of InAs QDs, which axe achieved using lower growth temperature and higher InAs coverage. At room temperature, the ground state peak wavelength of PL spectrum and full-width at half-maximum （FWHM） are 1305 nm and 30 meV, respectively, which are obtained as the QDs are finally capped with 5-nm In0.06Ga0.94As strain-reducing layer （SRL）. The PL spectra exhibit two emission peaks at 1305 and 1198 nm, which correspond to the ground state （GS） and the excited state （ES） of the QDs, respectively.     

Optical properties of 1.3 μm room temperature emitting InAs quantum dots covered by In0.4Ga0.6As/GaAs hetero-capping layer

Room temperature 1.3 μm emitting InAs quantum dots (QDs) covered by an In_0.4Ga_0.6As/GaAs strain reducing layer (SRL) have been fabricated by solid source molecular beam epitaxy (SSMBE) using the Stranski–Krastanov growth mode. The sample used has been investigated by temperature and excitation power dependent photoluminescence (PL), photoluminescence excitation (PLE), and time resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) experiments. Three emission peaks are apparent in the low temperature PL spectrum. We have found, through PLE measurement, a single quantum dot ground state and the corresponding first excited state with relatively large energy spacing. This attribute has been confirmed by TRPL measurements which allow comparison of the dynamics of the ground state with that of the excited states. Optical transitions related to the InGaAs quantum well have been also identified. Over the whole temperature range, the PL intensity is found to exhibit an anomalous increase with increasing temperatures up to 100 K and then followed by a drop by three orders of magnitude. Carrier’s activation energy out of the quantum dots is found to be close to the energy difference between each two subsequent transition energies. PACS 68.65.Ac; 68.65.Hb; 78.67.Hc     

Optical transitions and carrier dynamics in self-organized InAs quantum dots grown on In0.52Al0.48As/InP(0 0 1)

Optical transitions in self-organized InAs quantum dots (QDs) grown on In_0.52Al_0.48As layer lattice matched to InP(0 0 1) substrate, have been studied by continuous wave (cw) photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved PL. The dependence of the PL transition on excitation power and photoluminescence excitation measurements clearly shows that the multi-component cw-PL spectrum is related to emission coming from ground and related excited states of QDs with heights varying by monolayer fluctuations. While decay times measured by time-resolved PL are in the nanosecond range for the ground states, shorter decay times related to relaxation of carriers down directly to the ground state are determined for the excited states.     

Effect of thermal annealing in the microstructural and the optical properties of uncapped InAs quantum dots grown on GaAs buffer layers

The effect of thermal annealing on self-assembled uncapped InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) has been investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The TEM images showed that the lateral sizes and densities of the InAs QDs were not changed significantly up to 650 °C. When the InAs/GaAs QDs were annealed at 700 °C, while the lateral size of the InAs QDs increased, their density decreased. The InAs QDs disappeared at 800 °C. PL spectra showed that the peaks corresponding to the interband transitions of the InAs QDs shifted slightly toward the high-energy side, and the PL intensity decreased with increasing annealing temperature. These results indicate that the microstructural and the optical properties of self-assembled uncapped InAs/GaAs can be modified due to postgrowth thermal annealing.     

Photoluminescence of InAs quantum dots embedded in graded InGaAs barriers

The effects of the top barrier and the dot density on photoluminescence (PL) of the InAs quantum dots (QDs) sandwiched by the graded In_xGa_1−xAs barriers grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) have been studied. Two emission peaks corresponding to the ground state and the 1st excited state transitions of the QD structures have been observed, which matches well to the theoretical calculation. The PL emission linewidth and intensity of the InAs QDs structure are improved by reducing the Indium/Gallium composition variation of the graded In_xGa_1−xAs top barrier layer of the structure. The QDs’ ground states filling excitation power depends on the crystal quality of the InGaAs barrier layer and the QD density. The extracted thermal activation energy for the QDs’ PL emission is sensitive to the QD size.     

Analysis of room temperature PL spectra of InAs/GaAs/InP and InAs/InP self-assembled QDs: A five-band study

In this paper, room temperature PL spectra of InAs self-assembled dots grown on GaAs/InP and InP substrate are presented. For analyzing different positions of the PL peaks, we examine the strain tensor in these quantum dots (QDs) using a valence force field model, and use a five-band k·p formalism to find the electronic spectra. We find that the GaAs tensile-stained layer affects the position of room temperature PL peak. The redshift of PL peak of InAs/GaAs/InP QDs compared to that of InAs/InP QDs is explained theoretically.     

Bandgap engineering of self-assembled InAs quantum dots with a thin AlAs barrier

We investigate the effects of a thin AlAs layer with different position and thickness on the optical properties of InAs quantum dots (QDs) by using transmission electron microscopy and photoluminescence (PL). The energy level shift of InAs QD samples is observed by introducing the thin AlAs layer without any significant loss of the QD qualities. The emission peak from InAs QDs directly grown on the 4 monolayer (ML) AlAs layer is blueshifted from that of reference sample by 219 meV with a little increase in FWHM from 42–47 meV for ground state. In contrast, InAs QDs grown under the 4 ML AlAs layer have PL peak a little redshifted to lower energy by 17 meV. This result is related to the interdiffusion of Al atom at the InAs QDs caused by the annealing effect during growing of InAs QDs on AlAs layer.     

Quantum dot p-i-n structure in an electric field

Time-resolved photoluminescence (PL), steady-state PL, and electroluminescence (EL) techniques have been used to characterize the carrier relaxation processes and carrier escape mechanisms in self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dot (SAQD) p-i-n structures under reverse bias. The measurements were performed between 5 K and room temperature on a ring mesa sample as a function of bias. At 100 K, the PL decay time originating from the n  =  1 SAQD decreases with increasing reverse bias from ∼3 ns under flat band condition to∼ 400 ps for a bias of −3 V. The data can be explained by a simple model based on electron recombination in the quantum dots (QDs) or escape out of the dots. The escape can occur by one of three possible routes: direct tunneling out of the distribution of excited electronic levels, thermally assisted tunneling of ground state electrons through the upper excited electronic states or thermionic emission to the wetting layer.     

Polaron relaxation dynamics in InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots

Polaron decay in n-type InAs quantum dots has been investigated using energy dependent, mid-infrared pump–probe spectroscopy. By studying samples with differing ground state to first excited state energy separations the relaxation time has been measured between 40 and 60 meV. The low-temperature decay time increases with increasing detuning between the pump energy and the optical phonon energy and is maximum (55 ps) at 56 meV. From the experimentally determined decay times we are able to extract a low-temperature optical phonon lifetime of 13 ps for InAs QDs. We find that the polaron decay time decreases by a factor of 2 at room temperature due to the reduction of the optical phonon lifetime.     

Observation of monolayer-splitting for InAs/GaAs quantum dots

A pronounced modulation is observed in the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of self-organized InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs), recorded at low excitation densities. The clearly distinguishable peaks are identified as a multimodal distribution of the ground state transition energy, originating from a discrete, stepwise variation of the structural properties of the QDs, which is associated with an increase of the QD height in monolayer (ML) steps. The observation of a ML splitting implies a flat QD shape with well-defined upper and lower interfaces as well as negligible indium segregation. The electronic properties of the InAs/GaAs QDs were investigated by PL and PL-excitation spectroscopy and are discussed based on realistic calculations for flat InAs/GaAs QDs with a truncated pyramidal shape based on an extended 8-band k·p model. The calculations predict a red shift of the ground state transition with each additional ML, which saturates for heights above 9 ML, is in good agreement with experiment.     

Electronic Energy Levels in an Asymmetric Quantum-Dots-in-a-Well Structure for Infrared Photodetectors

Theoretical calculation of electronic energy levels of an asymmetric InAs/InGaAs/GaAs quantum-dots-in-a-well （DWELL） structure for infrared photodetectors is performed in the framework of effective-mass envelope-function theory. Our calculated results show that the electronic energy levels in quantum dots （QDs） increase when the asymmetry increases and the ground state energy increases faster than the excited state energies. Furthermore, the results also show that the electronic energy levels in Q Ds decrease as the size of QDs and the width of quantum well （QW） in the asymmetric DWELL structure increase. Additionally, the effects of asymmetry, the size of QDs and the width of QW on the response peak of asymmetry DWELL photodetectors are also discussed.     

PHOTOLUMINESCENCE STUDY OF InAs/GaAs SELF-ORGANIZED QUANTUM DOTS WITH BIMODAL SIZE DISTRIBUTION

We have investigated the temperature dependence of the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of self-organized InAs/GaAs quantum dots. A distinctive double-peak feature of the PL spectra from quantum dots has been observed, and a bimodal distribution of dot sizes has also been confirmed by scanning tunneling microscopy image for uncapped sample. The power-dependent PL study demonstrates that the distinctive PL emission peaks are associated with the ground-state emission of islands in different size branches. The temperature-dependent PL study shows that the PL quenching temperature for different dot families is different. Due to lacking of the couple between quantum dots, an unusual temperature dependence of the linewidth and peak energy of the dot ensemble photoluminescence has not been observed. In addition, we have tuned the emission wavelength of InAs QDs to 1.3 μm at room temperature.     

Dependence of bimodal size distribution on temperature and optical properties of InAs quantum dots grown on vicinal GaAs （100） substrates by using MOCVD

Self-assembled InAs quantum dots (QDs) are grown on vicinal GaAs (100) substrates by using metal-organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD). An abnormal temperature dependence of bimodal size distribution of InAs quantum dots is found. As the temperature increases, the density of the small dots grows larger while the density of the large dots turns smaller, which is contrary to the evolution of QDs on exact GaAs (100) substrates. This trend is explained by taking into account the presence of multiatomic steps on the substrates. The optical properties of InAs QDs on vicinal GaAs(100) substrates are also studied by photoluminescence (PL) . It is found that dots on a vicinal substrate have a longer emission wavelength, a narrower PL line width and a much larger PL intensity.     

Effects of p-type doping on the optical properties of InAs/GaAs quantum dots

The effects of p-type doping on the optical properties of self-organized InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) were investigated by both micro-photoluminescence and degenerated pump–probe reflection measurements. As compared to undoped InAs/GaAs QDs, it was observed that the transitions between the ground and the first excited states of electrons and holes levels appeared at higher energies for p-doped InAs/GaAs QDs. In addition, the PL intensities for both undoped and p-doped QDs were found to decrease when the excitation power exceeded a critical value. The critical excitation power for p-doped QDs appeared to be much lower than that for undoped ones. In the pump–probe experiments, it was revealed that the value and sign of the differential reflectivity depends strongly on excitation wavelength. P-doped QDs exhibited a response behavior that is different from that of undoped ones. It is believed that the large build-in population of holes plays a crucial role in determining the transient reflection spectrum.