High-density and narrow size-distribution InAs quantum dots formed by a modified two-step growth

We develop a modified two-step method of growing high-density and narrow size-distribution InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) by molecular beam epitaxy. In the first step, high-density small InAs QDs are formed by optimizing the continuous deposition amount. In the second step, deposition is carried out with a long growth interruption for every 0.1 InAs monolayer. Atomic force microscope images show that the high-density ($\sim $5.9$\times $10$^{10}$\,cm$^{ - 2})$ good size-uniformity InAs QDs are achieved. The strong intensity and narrow linewidth (27.7\,meV) of the photoluminescence spectrum show that the QDs grown in this two-step method have a good optical quality.     

Self-assembly of InAs quantum dots on GaAs(001)by molecular beam epitaxy

Currently, the nature of self-assembly of three-dimensional epitaxial islands or quantum dots (QDs) in a lattice-mismatched heteroepitaxial growth system, such as InAs/GaAs(001) and Ge/Si(001) as fabricated by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), is still puzzling. The purpose of this article is to discuss how the self-assembly of InAs QDs in MBE InAs/GaAs(001) should be properly understood in atomic scale. First, the conventional kinetic theories that have traditionally been used to interpret QD self-assembly in heteroepitaxial growth with a significant lattice mismatch are reviewed briefly by examining the literature of the past two decades. Second, based on their own experimental data, the authors point out that InAs QD self-assembly can proceed in distinctly different kinetic ways depending on the growth conditions and so cannot be framed within a universal kinetic theory, and, furthermore, that the process may be transient, or the time required for a QD to grow to maturity may be significantly short, which is obviously inconsistent with conventional kinetic theories. Third, the authors point out that, in all of these conventional theories, two well-established experimental observations have been overlooked: i) A large number of “floating” indium atoms are present on the growing surface in MBE InAs/GaAs(001); ii) an elastically strained InAs film on the GaAs(001) substrate should be mechanically unstable. These two well-established experimental facts may be highly relevant and should be taken into account in interpreting InAs QD formation. Finally, the authors speculate that the formation of an InAs QD is more likely to be a collective event involving a large number of both indium and arsenic atoms simultaneously or, alternatively, a morphological/structural transformation in which a single atomic InAs sheet is transformed into a three-dimensional InAs island, accompanied by the rehybridization from the sp²-bonded to sp³- bonded atomic configuration of both indium and arsenic elements in the heteroepitaxial growth system.     

GaSb/GaAs复合应力缓冲层上自组装InAs量子点的生长

研究了GaSb/GaAs复合应力缓冲层上自组装生长的InAs量子点.在2ML GaSb/1ML GaAs复合应力缓冲层上获得了高密度的、沿［100］方向择优分布量子点.随着复合应力缓冲层中GaAs层厚度的不同,量子点的密度可以在1.2×10¹⁰cm^-2和8×10¹⁰cm^-2进行调控.适当增加GaAs层的厚度至5ML,量子点的发光波长红移了约25nm,室温下PL光谱波长接近1300nm. 关键词： 自组装量子点 分子束外延 Ⅲ-Ⅴ族化合物半导体     

Study of InAs/GaAs quantum dots grown by MOVPE under the safer growth conditions

InAs quantum dots (QDs) have been formed on GaAs (001) substrate by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) under the safer growth conditions: using tertiarybutylarsine (TBA) to replace AsH₃ as the arsenic source and replacing hydrogen by pure nitrogen as the carrier gas. Effects of growth conditions on the QD formation have been investigated. It is observed that the wetting layer is stabilized with some material being transferred to form the QDs due to the strain relaxation process during the QD formation. Dot size dispersion becomes broader when the post-growth interruption is more than 20 s. Compared with normal one-step grown QDs, dot density increases greatly by 213% after employing two-step deposition for QD growth. This is explained by considering the indium-flux-dependent nucleation density at step 1 and kinetically self-limiting growth at step 2. The two photoluminescence (PL) emission peaks, 1.203 μm and 1.094 μm, from the two-step grown QDs are attributed to E1–HH1 and E1–LH1 transitions of the QDs, respectively. The measured results agree well with those received by an 8 k·p theoretical calculation. The narrow PL linewidth of ~50 nm shows high quality of the QDs. This paves the way to develop safer MOVPE process, using TBA/N₂ instead of AsH₃/H₂, to grow QDs for device application.     

Controlled stacking growth of uniform InAs quantum dots by molecular beam epitaxy

Double-stacked InAs quantum dots (QDs) were grown by molecular beam epitaxy via Stranski–Krastanov growth mode. Transition of the facet formation from {1 3 6} plane to {1 1 0} plane was observed during the stacking growth of InAs QDs by reflection high-energy electron-beam diffraction. The enhanced growth rate and the different facet formation in the stacking growth were caused by tensile strain of the GaAs underlying layer. Low arsenic pressure and low growth rate conditions played an important role for a perfect coupling and uniformity in the size of the stacked QDs. The narrow photoluminescence line width of 17.6 meV was successfully obtained from the stacked InAs QDs.     

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.     

Studying the mechanism of ordered growth of InAs quantum dots on GaAs/InP

We study the mechanism of ordered growth of InAs quantum dots (islands) on a GaAs/InP substrate in theory and point out that the tensile strain can be used to control InAs/InP self-assembled quantum dots arrangement. Photoluminescence spectrum, and atomic force microscopy images have been investigated. In the experiment, ordered InAs islands have been obtained and the maximum density of quantum dots is 1.6×10¹⁰ cm⁻² at 4 monolayers InAs layer.     

Mn-including InAs quantum dots fabricated by Mn implantation

Mn-including InAs quantum dots (QDs) were fabricated by Mn-ion implantation and subsequent annealing. The optical, compositional, and structural properties of the treated samples were analyzed by photoluminescence (PL) and microscopy. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) results indicate that Mn ions diffused from the bulk GaAs into the InAs QDs during annealing, and the diffusion appears to be driven by the strain in the InAs QDs. The temperature dependence of the PL of Mn-including InAs QD samples exhibits QDs PL characteristics. At the same time, the heavy Mn-including InAs QD samples have ferromagnetic properties and high T_c.     

Optical transitions of InAs/In0.36Ga0.64As/GaAs(311B) surface quantum dots clearly identified by the piezoreflectance technique

The bilayer InAs/In_0.36Ga_0.64As/GaAs(311B) quantum dots (QDs), including one InAs buried quantum dot (BQD) layer and the other InAs surface quantum dot (SQD) layer, have been grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The optical properties of these three samples have been studied by the piezoreflectance (PzR) spectroscopy. The PzR spectra do not exhibit only the optical transitions originated from the InAs BQDs, but the features originated from the InAs SQDs. After the InAs SQDs have been removed chemically, those optical transitions from InAs SQDs have been demonstrated clearly by investigating the PzR spectra of the residual InAs BQDs in these samples. The great redshift of these interband transitions of InAs SQDs has been well discussed. Due to the suitable InAs SQD sizes and the thickness of In_0.36Ga_0.64As layer, the interband transition of InAs SQDs has been shifted to ∼1.55 μm at 77 K.     

High sensitivity Hall devices with AlSb/InAs quantum well structures

AlSb/InAs quantum well (QW) structures and InAs films on GaAs (001) substrates were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). We investigated the dependence of electron mobility and two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) concentration on the thickness of an InAs channel. It is found that electron mobility as high as 19050 cm2·V-1·s-1 has been achieved for an InAs channel of 22.5 nm. The Hall devices with high sensitivity and good temperature stability were fabricated based on the AlSb/InAs QW structures. Their sensitivity is markedly superior to Hall devices of InAs films.     

Size-shrinkage effect of InAs quantum dots during a GaAs capping growth

The modification of the InAs quantum dots (QDs) by the GaAs capping growth was studied by using cross-sectional STEM and atomic force microscopy. In case of the GaAs capping growth at 450 °C, it was found that the lateral size of the InAs QDs significantly decreases rather than the height and that this size-shrinkage effect is enhanced for the large QDs. The shrinkage behavior is mainly attributed to the indium surface segregation, strongly depending on the surface strain of the QDs. The growth process of the GaAs capping layer plays an important role for achieving the size ordering of the embedded QDs.     

Influence of stoichiometry on the luminescent properties of InAs quantum dots grown on a heterostructure

We report photoluminescence (PL) spectra of InP/In_xGa_1-xAs/InAs/InP dot-in-a-well structures grown by MOVPE, with different compositions of the ternary layer. Measurements with atomic force microscopy showed that the largest quantum dot (QD) height is obtained when the InAs QDs are grown on the In_xGa_1-xAs layer with a mismatch of 1000 ppm, and the height decreases as the mismatch departs from this value. PL spectra of the QDs showed an asymmetric band, which involves transitions between dot energy levels and can be deconvoluted into two peaks. The highest energy PL peak of this band was observed for the sample with the QDs grown on top of the lattice-matched In_xGa_1-xAs layer and it shifted to lower energies for strained samples as the degree of mismatch increased. Theoretical calculations of the energy levels of the entire structure were used to interpret the obtained PL spectra and determine the possible detection tunability range.     

Exchange interaction in InAs nanocrystal quantum dots

The near band-gap level structure in high-quality colloidal InAs nanocrystal quantum dots within the very strong confinement regime is investigated. Size-selective photoluminescence excitation and fluorescence line narrowing measurements reveal a size-dependent splitting between the absorbing and the emitting states. The splitting is assigned to the confinement-enhanced electron–hole exchange interaction. The size dependence of the splitting significantly deviates from the idealized 1/r³scaling law for the exchange splitting. A model incorporating a finite barrier which allows for wavefunction leakage is introduced. The model reproduces the observed 1/r²dependence of the splitting and good agreement with the experimental data is obtained. The smaller barriers for embedded InAs dots grown by molecular-beam epitaxy, are predicted to result in smaller exchange splitting as compared with colloidal dots with a similar number of atoms.     

Resonant photoluminescence from modulation-doped InAs –GaAs quantum dots

Resonant luminescence studies of InAs quantum dots (QDs) embedded in a GaAs matrix grown by molecular beam epitaxy are presented, showing marked differences for modulation-doped and undoped QDs and indicating that the doping leads to different exciton formation and carrier relaxation mechanisms. The LO-phonon assisted relaxatioin of excitons between sub-levels is identified for the modulation-doped QDs.     

等离子体增强InAs单量子点荧光辐射的研究

通过测量光致发光(PL)谱、PL时间分辨光谱及不同激发功率下PL发光强度,研究了低温(5 K)下等离子体对InAs单量子点PL光谱的增强效应.采用电子束蒸发镀膜技术在InAs量子点样品表面淀积了5 nm厚度的金膜,形成纳米金岛膜结构.实验发现,金岛膜有利于量子点样品发光强度的增加,最大PL强度增加了约5倍,其主要物理机理是金岛膜纳米结构提高了量子点PL光谱的收集效率.     

氧化硅层中的锗纳米晶体团簇量子点

采用氧化和析出的方法在氧化硅中凝聚生成锗纳米晶体量子点结构. 其形成的锗晶体团簇没有突出的棱角和支晶结构，锗晶体团簇的轮廓较圆混，故可以用球形量子点模型来模拟实际的锗晶体团簇. 对比了在长时间退火氧化条件下和在短时间退火用激光照射氧化条件下所生成的锗纳米晶体结构的PL光谱和对应的锗纳米晶体团簇的尺寸分布. 短时间退火氧化条件下生成的锗纳米晶体较小(3.28—3.96nm)，长时间退火用激光照射氧化条件下所生成的锗纳米晶体较大(3.72—4.98nm)；其分布结构显示某些尺寸的锗纳米晶体团簇较稳定，适当的氧化条件可以得到尺寸分布范围较窄的锗纳米晶体团簇. 用量子点受限模型计算了锗纳米晶体团簇的能隙结构，用Monte Carlo方法模拟了PL光谱和对应的锗纳米晶体团簇的尺寸分布，分别与实验结果符合较好. 关键词： 锗晶体团簇 纳米晶体 量子点 激光照射     

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.     

Time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy of InAs quantum dots on InP with various InAlGaAs barrier thicknesses

The Optical characteristics of InAs quantum dots (QDs) embeded in InAlGaAs on InP have been investigated by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and time-resolved PL. Four different QD samples are grown by using molecular beam epitaxy, and all the QD samples have five-stacked InAs quantum dot layers with a different InAlGaAs barrier thickness. The PL yield from InAs QDs was increased with an increase in the thickness of the InAlGaAs barrier, and the emission peak positions of all InAs QD samples were measured around 1.5 μm at room temperature. The decay time of the carrier in InAs QDs is decreased abruptly in the QD sample with the 5 nm InAlGaAs barrier. This feature is explained by the tunneling and coupling effect in the vertical direction and probably defect generation.     

Theoretical study of quantum confined Stark shift in InAs／GaAs quantum dots

The quantum confined Stark effect (QCSE) of the self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots has been investigated theoretically. The ground-state transition energies for quantum dots in the shape of a cube, pyramid or “truncated pyramid” are calculated and analysed. We use a method based on the Green function technique for calculating thestrain in quantum dots and an efficient plane-wave envelope-function technique to determine the ground-state electronic structure of them with different shapes. The symmetry of quantum dots is broken by the effect of strain. So the properties of carriers show different behaviours from the traditional quantum device. Based on these results, we also calculate permanent built-in dipole moments and compare them with recent experimental data. Our results demonstrate that the measured Stark effect in self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dot structures can be explained by including linear grading.