High quality above 3-μm mid-infrared InGaAsSb/AlGaInAsSb multiple-quantum well grown by molecular beam epitaxy

The GaSb-based laser shows its superiority in the 3–4 μm wavelength range. However, for a quantum well(QW) laser structure of InGaAsSb/AlGaInAsSb multiple-quantum well(MQW) grown on GaSb, uniform content and high compressive strain in InGaAsSb/AlGaInAsSb are not easy to control. In this paper, the influences of the growth temperature and compressive strain on the photoluminescence(PL) property of a 3.0-μm InGaAsSb/AlGaInAsSb MQW sample are analyzed to optimize the growth parameters. Comparisons among the PL spectra of the samples indicate that the In0.485GaAs0.184Sb/Al0.3Ga0.45In0.25As0.22Sb0.78MQW with 1.72% compressive strain grown at 460 C posseses the optimum optical property. Moreover, the wavelength range of the MQW structure is extended to 3.83 μm by optimizing the parameters.     

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.     

Experimental investigation of loss and gain characteristics of an abnormal In_xGa_(1-x)As/GaAs quantum well structure

In this Letter, the loss and gain characteristics of an unconventional InxGa1-xAs∕Ga As asymmetrical step well structure consisting of variable indium contents of InxGa1-xAs materials are measured and analyzed for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. This special well structure is formed based on the indium-rich effect from the material growth process. The loss and gain are obtained by optical pumping and photoluminescence(PL)spectrum measurement at dual facets of an edge-emitting device. Unlike conventional quasi-rectangle wells, the asymmetrical step well may lead to a hybrid strain configuration containing both compressive and tensile strains and, thus, special loss and gain characteristics. The results will be very helpful in the development of multiple wavelength In Ga As-based semiconductor lasers.     

Influence of compressive strain on the incorporation of indium in InGaN and InAlN ternary alloys

In order to investigate the influence of compressive strain on indium incorporation in In Al N and In Ga N ternary nitrides,In Al N/Ga N heterostructures and In Ga N films were grown by metal–organic chemical vapor deposition.For the heterostructures,different compressive strains are produced by Ga N buffer layers grown on unpatterned and patterned sapphire substrates thanks to the distinct growth mode;while for the In Ga N films,compressive strains are changed by employing Al Ga N templates with different aluminum compositions.By various characterization methods,we find that the compressive strain will hamper the indium incorporation in both In Al N and In Ga N.Furthermore,compressive strain is conducive to suppress the non-uniform distribution of indium in In Ga N ternary alloys.     

Influence of Ⅴ/Ⅲ ratio on the structural and photoluminescence properties of In0.52AlAs/In0.53GaAs metamorphic high electron mobility transistor grown by molecular beam epitaxy

A series of metamorphic high electron mobility transistors （MMHEMTs） with different Ⅴ/Ⅲ flux ratios are grown on CaAs （001） substrates by molecular beam epitaxy （MBE）. The samples are analysed by using atomic force microscopy （AFM）, Hall measurement, and low temperature photoluminescence （PL）. The optimum Ⅴ/Ⅲ ratio in a range from 15 to 60 for the growth of MMHEMTs is found to be around 40. At this ratio, the root mean square （RMS） roughness of the material is only 2.02 nm; a room-temperature mobility and a sheet electron density are obtained to be 10610.0cm^2/（V.s） and 3.26×10^12cm^-2 respectively. These results are equivalent to those obtained for the same structure grown on InP substrate. There are two peaks in the PL spectrum of the structure, corresponding to two sub-energy levels of the In0.53Ga0.47As quantum well. It is found that the photoluminescence intensities of the two peaks vary with the Ⅴ/Ⅲ ratio, for which the reasons are discussed.     

Impact of GaNAs strain compensation layer on the electronic structure of InAs/GaAs quantum dots

The strain and electron energy levels of InAs/GaAs(001) quantum dots (QDs) with a GaNAs strain compensation layer (SCL) are investigated. The results show that both the hydrostatic and biaxial strain inside the QDs with a GaNAs SCL are reduced compared with those with GaAs capping layers. Moreover, most of the compressive strain in the growth surface is compensated by the tensile strain of the GaNAs SCL, which implies that the influence of the strain environment of underlying QDs upon the next-layer QDs’ growth surface is weak and suggests that the homogeneity and density of QDs can be improved. Our results are consistent with the published experimental literature. A GaNAs SCL is shown to influence the strain and band edge. As is known, the strain and the band offset affect the electronic structure, which shows that the SCL is proved to be useful to tailor the emission wavelength of QDs. Our research helps to better understand how the strain compensation technology can be applied to the growth of stacked QDs, which are useful in solar cells and laser devices.     

The influence of strain-reducing layer on strain distribution and ground state energy levels of GaN/AlN quantum dot

This article deals with the strain distributions around GaN/AlN quantum dots by using the finite element method. Special attention is paid to the influence of Al_0.2Ga_0.8N strain-reducing layer on strain distribution and electronic structure. The numerical results show that the horizontal and the vertical strain components are reinforced in the GaN quantum dot due to the presence of the strain-reducing layer, but the hydrostatic strain in the quantum dot is not influenced. According to the deformation potential theory, we study the band edge modifications and the piezoelectric effects. The result demonstrates that with the increase of the strain reducing layer, the transition energy between the ground state electron and the heavy hole increases. This result is consistent with the emission wavelength blue shift phenomenon observed in the experiment and confirms that the wavelength shifts toward the short wavelength range is realizable by adjusting the structure-dependent parameters of GaN/AlN quantum dot.     

Wavelength Red-Shift of Long Wavelength InGaN/GaN Multi-Quantum Well by Using an InGaN Underlying Layer

Long-wavelength Ga2N based light-emitting diodes are of importance in full color displays, monofithic white lightemitting diodes and solid-state lighting, etc. However, their epitaxial growth faces great challenges because high indium （In） compositions of lnGaN are difficult to grow. In order to enhance In incorporation and lengthen the emission wavelength of a InGaN/GaN multi-quantum well （MQW）, we insert an InGaN underlying layer underneath the MQW. InGaN/GaN MQWs with various InGaN underlying layers, such as graded InyGal-yN material with linearly increasing In content, or InyGa1-yN with fixed In content but different thicknesses, are grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Experimental results demonstrate the enhancement of In incorporation and the emission wavelength redshift by the insertion of an InGaN underlying layer.     

Influences of stress on the properties of GaN/InGaN multiple quantum well LEDs grown on Si(111) substrates

The influences of stress on the properties of In GaN/GaN multiple quantum wells(MQWs) grown on silicon substrate were investigated.The different stresses were induced by growing In GaN and Al GaN insertion layers(IL) respectively before the growth of MQWs in metal–organic chemical vapor deposition(MOCVD) system.High resolution x-ray diffraction(HRXRD) and photoluminescence(PL) measurements demonstrated that the In GaN IL introduced an additional tensile stress in n-GaN,which released the strain in MQWs.It is helpful to increase the indium incorporation in MQWs.In comparison with MQWs without the IL,the wavelength shows a red-shift.Al GaN IL introduced a compressive stress to compensate the tensile stress,which reduces the indium composition in MQWs.PL measurement shows a blue-shift of wavelength.The two kinds of ILs were adopted to In GaN/GaN MQWs LED structures.The same wavelength shifts were also observed in the electroluminescence(EL) measurements of the LEDs.Improved indium homogeneity with In GaN IL,and phase separation with Al GaN IL were observed in the light images of the LEDs.     

Microstructure and strain films using in-plane grazing analysis of GaN epitaxial incidence x-ray diffraction

This paper investigates the major structural parameters, such as crystal quality and strain state of （001）-oriented GaN thin films grown on sapphire substrates by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition, using an in-plane grazing incidence x-ray diffraction technique. The results are analysed and compared with a complementary out-of-plane x- ray diffraction technique. The twist of the GaN mosaic structure is determined through the direct grazing incidence t of （100） reflection which agrees well with the result obtained by extrapolation method. The method for directly determining the in-plane lattice parameters of the GaN layers is also presented. Combined with the biaxial strain model, it derives the lattice parameters corresponding to fully relaxed GaN films. The GaN epilayers show an increasing residual compressive stress with increasing layer thickness when the two dimensional growth stage is established, reaching to a maximum level of-0.89 GPa.