InP-based InGaAs/InAlGaAs digital alloy quantum well laser structure at 2 μm

The structural and optical characteristics of InP-based compressively strained InGaAs quantum wells have been significantly improved by using gas source molecular beam epitaxy grown InAs/In 0.53 Ga 0.47 As digital alloy triangular well layers and tensile In 0.53 Ga 0.47 As/InAlGaAs digital alloy barrier layers.The x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscope characterisations indicate that the digital alloy structures present favourable lattice quality.Photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence (EL) measurements show that the use of digital alloy barriers offers better optical characteristics than that of conventional random alloy barriers.A significantly improved PL signal of around 2.1 μm at 300 K and an EL signal of around 1.95 μm at 100 K have been obtained.     

Study of valence intersubband absorption in tensile strained Si/SiGe quantum wells

The hole subband structures and effective masses of tensile strained Si/Sil-yGey quantum wells are calculated by using the 6 × 6 k·p method. The results show that when the tensile strain is induced in the quantum well, the light-hole state becomes the ground state, and the light hole effective masses in the growth direction are strongly reduced while the in-plane effective masses are considerable. Quantitative calculation of the valence intersubband transition between two light hole states in a 7nm tensile strained Si/Si0.55Ge0.45 quantum well grown on a relaxed Si0.5Ge0.5 （100） substrates shows a large absorption coefficient of 8400 cm^-1.     

Properties of Strain Compensated Symmetrical Triangular Quantum Wells Composed of InGaAs/InAs Chirped Superlattice Grown Using Gas Source Molecular Beam Epitaxy

We investigate the properties of symmetrical triangular quantum wells composed of InGaAs/InAs chirped superlattice, which is grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy via digital alloy method. In the quantum well structure tensile AlInGaAs are used as barriers to partially compensate for the significant compressive strain in the wells, the strain compensation effects are confirmed by x-ray measurement. The photoluminescence spectra of the sample are dominated by the excitonic recombination peak in the whole temperature range. The thermal quenching, peak energy shift and line-width broadening of the PL spectra are analysed in detail, the mechanisms are discussed.     

InP-based InGaAs/InA1GaAs digital alloy quantum well laser structure at 2μm

The structural and optical characteristics of InP-based compressively strained InGaAs quantum wells have been significantly improved by using gas source molecular beam epitaxy grown InAs/Ino.53Ga0.47As digital alloy triangular well layers and tensile Ino.53Ga0.47As/InAiGaAs digital alloy barrier layers. The x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscope characterisations indicate that the digital alloy structures present favourable lattice quality. Photo- luminescence （PL） and electroluminescence （EL） measurements show that the use of digital alloy barriers offers better optical characteristics than that of conventional random alloy barriers. A significantly improved PL signal of around 2.1μm at 300 K and an EL signal of around 1.95μm at 100 K have been obtained.     

Research of Equilibrium Composition Map in Conic Quantum Dots

We present equilibrium composition maps in InGaAs/GaAs conic strained quantum dots, using the finite element method and quadratic programming optimization method. The axis-symmetric model is adopted. We compare the steep islands with the shallow islands and determine the influence of entropie energy. The difference of equilibrium composition maps between the single dot and the quantum dot stacks is also discussed.     

Optical Properties of Highly Strained GaInAs／GaAs Quantum Wells Grown by Sb Assistance

Optical properties of highly strained GaInAs/GaAs quantum wells (QWs) grown by molecular beam epitaxy with Sb assistance are investigated. The samples grown by Sb incorporation and Sb pre-deposition methods display high room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) intensity at extended 10ng wavelength. This result is explained by the surfactant effects of Sb during the growth of GaInAs/GaAs QW systems. An abnormal Sshaped temperature dependence of the PL peak position is found in the In0.42Ga0.58As/GaAs triple QWs sample grown with Sb pre-deposition. By investigating the transmission electron microscope images and time-resolved PL spectra, it is found that the S-shaped temperature dependence of the PL peak position originates from the exciton 10calization effect brought by the Sb-rich clusters on the QW interface.     

Comparative Characterization of InGaN/GaN Multiple Quantum Wells by Transmission Electron Microscopy, X-Ray Diffraction and Rutherford Backscattering

The composition, elastic strain and structural defects of InCaN/CaN multiple quantum wells （MQWs） are comparatively investigated by using x-ray diffraction （XRD）, transmission electron microscopy and Rutherford backscattering/channelling. The InGaN well layers are fully strained on CaN, i.e. the degree of relaxation is zero. The multilayered structure has a clear defined periodic thickness and abrupt interfaces. The In composition is deduced by XRD simulation. We show how the periodic structure, the In composition, the strain status and the crystalline quality of the InGaN/GaN MQ, Ws can be determined and cross-checked by various techniques.     

Spin–orbit coupling effects on the in-plane optical anisotropy of semiconductor quantum wells

We theoretically study the influence of the spin–orbit coupling(SOC) on the in-plane optical anisotropy(IPOA) induced by in-plane uniaxial strain and interface asymmetry in(001) GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells(QWs) with different well width. It is found that the SOC has more significant impact on the IPOA for the transition of the first valence subband of heavy hole to the first conduction band(1H1E) than that of 1L1E. The reason has been discussed. The IPOA of(001) InGaAs/InP QWs has been measured by reflectance difference spectroscopy, whose amplitude is about one order larger than that of GaAs/AlGaAs QWs. The anisotropic interface potential parameters of InGaAs/InP QWs are also determined. The influence of the SOC effect on the IPOA of InGaAs/InP QWs when the QWs are under tensile, compressive or zero biaxial strain are also investigated in theory. Our results demonstrate that the SOC has significant effect on the IPOA especially for semiconductor QWs with small well width, and therefore cannot be ignored.     

Room temperature continuous wave operation of 1.33-um InAs/GaAs quantum dot laser with high output power

Continuous wave operation of a semiconductor laser diode based on five stacks of InAs quantum dots (QDs) embedded within strained InGaAs quantum wells as an active region is demonstrated. At room temperature, 355-mW output power at ground state of 1.33-1.35μm for a 20-μm ridge-waveguide laser without facet coating is achieved. By optimizing the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth conditions, the QD density per layer is raised to 4×10~(10) cm-2. The laser keeps lasing at ground state until the temperature reaches 65℃.     

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/InyGa1-yAs)/GaAs bilayer quantum we]] (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/In0.4 GaAs)/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.     

Influence of the cap layer thickness on photoluminescence properties in strained InGaAs/GaAs single quantum wells

The influence of the GaAs cap layer thickness on the luminescence properties in strained In_0.20Ga_0.80As/GaAs single quantum well (SQW) structures has been investigated using temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The luminescence peak is shifted to lower energy as the GaAs cap layer thickness decreases, which demonstrates the effect of the GaAs cap layer thickness on the strain of InGaAs/GaAs single quantum wells (SQW). We find the PL quenching mechanism is the thermal activation of electron hole pairs from the wells into the GaAs cap layer for the samples with thicker GaAs cap layer, while in sample with thinner GaAs cap layer exciton trapping on misfit dislocations is dominated.     

Analysis of coupling effect on valence band structures of strained multiple quantum wells

The multi-well energy representation technique is presented for the analysis of the valence band structures of multiple quantum well (MQW) lasers. In terms of this technique and its relative formulae, calculations are performed for InGaAs/InGaAsP strained MQW structures. It is found that the coupling exists between the wells, and causes the energy split. So, on the basis of the computed results, the coupling between the wells is analysed, and the split of both the quantized energy levels at the Γ point and the quantized energy bands at the non-Γ points is described. It is also found that the structural parameters of the MQW system strongly influence the coupling property and the energy split, and hence these effects are also discussed in relation to the periodic length, the well width, the distance between the wells, and the ratio of the well width to the periodic length. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Feasibility study of low-power multiquantum-well vertical transmission optical amplifiers for optical interconnection

Performance of 0.98-μm InGaAs strained multiquantum-well Fabry-Perot vertical transmission optical amplifiers (MQW FP VTOAs) for optical inter-board connection is analyzed theoretically, and compared with those of GaAs MQW, GaAs bulk, and InGaAsP bulk VTOAs. A low-power operation of about 2 mA and a cascadability of several hundred boards are predicted for an InGaAs strained MQW FP VTOA.     

Characterization of (In,Ga)As/GaAs strained-layer multiple quantum wells with high-resolution X-ray diffraction and computer simulations

Pseudomorphic, highly strained (In,Ga)As/GaAs multiple quantum well structures were grown by molecular beam epitaxy and characterized by high-resolution X-ray diffraction. Thickness, lattice mismatch and chemical composition of the quantum wells were determined from measurements of satellite Bragg reflections and comparison with calculated rocking curves. In periodic structures, quantum wells with a width of less than 10 nm can be characterized by this technique. The results are compared with transmission electron microscopy, optical absorption and optical emission spectroscopy.     

Absorption and photoluminescence studies of the temperature dependence of exciton life time in lattice-matched and strained quantum well systems

We present systematic studies of the temperature dependence of linewidths and lifetimes of excitonic transitions in quantum wells grown by molecular beam epitaxy using both photoluminescence(PL) and optical absorption. The temperature ranged from 6K to room temperature. Samples under investigation were lattice-matched GaAs/AlGaAs and InGaAs/InAlAs, and strained InGaAs/GaAs and InGaAs/AlGaAs quantum wellssystems. In addition, the effects of well-size variations in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells were measured and analyzed. In all cases we were able to observe the excitonic transitions up to room temperature. By a careful fitting of the experimental data we separated the exciton transitions from band-to-band transitions. By deconvoluting the excitonic transitions we obtained the homogeneous and inhomogeneous linewidths. The homogeneous linewidths were used to calculate the exciton lifetimes as a function of temperature using the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. We found the lifetime decreases significantly with temperature and increases with increasing well size. These results are interpreted in terms of the exciton-phonon interaction and are expected to be very useful for the design of semiconductor optical devices operating at different temperatures.     

InGaAs/GaAs应变脊形量子线分子束外延非平面生长研究

提出了新型InGaAs/GaAs应变脊形量子线结构．这种应变脊形量子线结合了非平面应变外延层中沿不同晶向能带带隙的变化、非平面生长应变层In组分的变化，以及非平面外延层厚度的变化等三方面共同形成的横向量子限制效应的综合作用．在非平面GaAs衬底上用分子束外延生长了侧面取向为（113）的脊形AlAs/In GaAs/AlAs应变量子线．用10K光致荧光谱测试了其发光性质．用Kronig-Penney模型近似计算了这种应变脊形结构所具有的横向量子限制效应，发现其光致荧光谱峰位的测试结果，与计算结果相比，有10meV的“蓝移”．认为这一跃迁能量的“蓝移”是上述三方面横向量子限制效应综合作用的结果 关键词：     

Exciton line broadening in strained InGaAs/GaAs single quantum wells

We report the first observation of well-resolved exciton peaks in the room-temperature absorption spectrum of the strained In_0.20Ga_0.80As/GaAs Single Quantum-Well (SQW) structure. The best fit of the exciton resonances gives the conduction-band offset ratioQ _c=0.70±0.05. The strength of the exciton-phonon coupling is determined from linewidth analysis and is found to be much larger than that of strained InGaAs/GaAs MQW structures.     

InxGa1-xAs/GaAs量子阱应变量对变温光致发光谱的影响

利用变温光致发光(PL)研究了In0.182Ga0.818As/GaAs应变及应变补偿量子阱在77～300 K温度范围内的发光特性.随着温度T的升高,PL峰位向低能方向移动.在应力作用下In0.182Ga0.818As/GaAs量子阱的价带顶轻空穴带和重空穴带发生了劈裂.通过理论计算推导应变随温度变化对InxGa1-x...     

Lateral and vertical ordered one-dimensional InGaAs/GaAs quantum structures

Lateral and vertical ordered one-dimensional quantum structures, i.e. InGaAs/GaAs(001) quantum dot chains and quantum wires, have been obtained using molecular beam epitaxy. It was found that the InGaAs wires or dot chains sit on two-dimensional wetting layers and run along the [-110] direction, as the result of anisotropic strain and in-plane adatom diffusion. This anisotropic nature produces a model system for studying the electronic properties of one-, two-, and three-dimensional quantum confinements and related optical responses. The strain anisotropy is of importance in determining the electronic states of the quantum structures and the surrounding strained barrier. The strain-induced effects, such as change of band-gap and splitting of heavy–light hole states, were studied experimentally and theoretically. Optical anisotropy of these quantum structures is also discussed.     

Comparative study of the band-offset ratio of conventionally strained and strain-compensated InGaAs/GaAs QW lasers

In order to achieve good high temperature laser performance, it is essential to have very deep electron wells. InGaAs system on GaAs substrate suffers from poor temperature characteristics due to the electron overflow over the rather small conduction band offset. By means of the Harrison's model, we investigate the effect of the strain compensation on band alignments of InGaAs/GaAs laser system and show that strain compensation improves the band alignments of this laser system. The use of GaAsP or InGaP barrier instead of GaAs barrier results the strain-compensated laser system having better band alignment than that of the conventionally strained InGaAs. Therefore, high temperature operation has been anticipated in these laser systems with strain compensated barriers due to better electron and hole confinement as a result of the increased band offset and a more favorable band offset ratio.