Inelastic scattering processes in GaAs/n-AlGaAs selectively doped heterojunctions with InGaAs quantum dots

Inelastic scattering processes of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in both normal and inverted n-AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction FET structures have been studied, for the case where InGaAs dots are embedded in the vicinity of GaAs channel. By analyzing the magnetoresistance data, the inelastic scattering time τ_in is determined as a function of the concentration N_2D of 2D electrons and shown to be reduced by 10–40% by the presence of InGaAs dots. By investigating a GaAs/n-AlGaAs inverted heterojunction FET with embedded InGaAs dots, we have varied the percentage P_oc of charged dots filled with an electron and found that τ_in decreases as P_oc increases, indicating that the inelastic scattering rate of 2DEG by charged dots is higher than that by the neutral ones.     

Analysis of inelastic scattering processes of electrons by localized electrons in quantum dots

The inelastic Coulomb scattering rate 1/τ_in of conduction electrons has been theoretically evaluated in the presence of localized states such as quantum dots. By a diagrammatical method, we have formulated 1/τ_in and its relation to the conductivity σ_loc(ω) through localized states. The dependence of τ_in on temperature T is examined in the case that σ_loc(ω) follows the Mott's model. It is found that 1/τ_in varies as T²(ln Δ/T)^d+1 where d is the dimensionality and Δ is tunneling energy between the localized states in the asymptonic T = 0 limit, in agreement with Imry's calculation. It is also found that calculated 1/τ_in deviates from T²(ln Δ/T)^d+1 as T increases, suggesting the importance of correction term at high temperature.     

Single-electron transistor spectroscopy of InGaAs self-assembled quantum dots

A single-electron transistor (SET) is used to detect tunneling of single electrons into individual InGaAs self-assembled quantum dots (QDs). By using an SET with a small island area and growing QDs with a low density we are able to distinguish and measure three QDs. The bias voltage at which resonant tunneling into the dots occurs can be shifted using a surface gate electrode. From the applied voltages at which we observe electrons tunneling, we are able to measure the electron addition energies of three QDs.     

Spontaneous one-dimensional lateral alignment of multistacked InGaAs quantum dots on GaAs (n 1 1)B substrates

In_0.45Ga_0.55As/GaAs multistacking quantum dot (QD) structures were fabricated on a GaAs (n 1 1)B (n=2–4) substrate by metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy. QDs spontaneously aligned in the [0 1 1] direction were observed on stacked QDs, whereas QDs were randomly distributed in the initial In_0.45Ga_0.55As layer growth. The formation mechanism of this self-alignment was studied by changing the number of In_0.45Ga_0.55As/GaAs multilayers and crystallographic arrangement. Photoluminescence spectra showing clear polarization dependence indicate carrier coupling in the QD arrays. This growth technique results in spontaneously aligned InGaAs QDs without any preprocessing technique prior to growth.     

Emission and strain in InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells with InAs quantum dots obtained at different temperatures

The photoluminescence (PL), its temperature dependence and X ray diffraction (XRD) have been studied in the symmetric In_0.15Ga_0.85As/GaAs quantum wells (QWs) with embedded InAs quantum dots (QDs), obtained with the variation of QD growth temperatures (470–535 °C). The increase of QD growth temperatures is accompanied by the enlargement of QD lateral sizes (from 12 up to 28 nm) and by the shift non monotonously of PL peak positions. The fitting procedure has been applied for the analysis of the temperature dependence of PL peaks. The obtained fitting parameters testify that in studied QD structures the process of In/Ga interdiffusion between QDs and capping/buffer layers takes place partially. However this process cannot explain the difference in PL peak positions.     

Regular array of InGaAs quantum dots with 100-nm-periodicity formed on patterned GaAs substrates

Regular arrays of InGaAs quantum dots (QDs) with a 100-nm-periodicity have been successfully fabricated by controlling the nucleation sites on artificially prepared nano-hole arrays. The nucleation probability of a single QD at each nano-hole reached 100% by depositing InGaAs at low temperature and subsequent annealing. Four InGaAs QD layers were vertically stacked while conserving the regularity, and the stacked QD array has shown a clear photoluminescence peak at room temperature. We discuss the effects of several growth conditions on the nucleation probability of QDs.     

Magneto-photoluminescence study of InGaAs quantum dots fabricated by droplet epitaxy

We have successfully measured magneto-photoluminescence of InGaAs quantum dots (QDs) fabricated by droplet epitaxy with highly dense Ga droplets, termed separated-phase enhance epitaxy with droplets (SPEED). In the low magnetic field region, the PL peak energy shift increases linearly with square of the magnetic field. From the estimated Bohr radii for the QDs, it is found that the size of the QDs in the lateral direction is 2.7-times larger than that in the vertical direction. Moreover, using high magnetic region for estimating the detailed lateral size, the cyclotron radius around 25 T in the QDs becomes equal to the lateral size of the QDs. The cyclotron radius of 5.1 nm at 25 T suggests that the size of the InGaAs QDs in lateral direction might be as small as about 10 nm.     

Spin excitations in few-electrons AlGaAs/GaAs quantum dots probed by inelastic light scattering

We present recent studies of electronic excitations in nanofabricated AlGaAs/GaAs semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) by resonant inelastic light scattering. The resonant light scattering spectra are dominated by excitations from parity-allowed inter-shell transitions between Fock–Darwin levels. In QDs with very few electrons the resonant spectra are characterized by distinct charge and spin excitations that reveal the strong impact of both exchange and correlation effects. A sharp inter-shell spin excitation of the triplet spin QD state with four electrons is identified.     

Effect of deposition period on structural and optical properties of InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots formed by InAs/GaAs short-period superlattices

Structural and optical properties of In_0.5Ga_0.5As/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) grown at 510 °C by atomic layer molecular beam epitaxy technique are studied as a function of n repeated deposition of 1-ML-thick InAs and 1-ML-thick GaAs. Cross-sectional images reveal that the QDs are formed by single large QDs rather than closely stacked InAs QDs and their shape is trapezoidal. In the image, existence of wetting layers is not clear. In 300 K-photoluminescence (PL) spectra of InGaAs QDs (n=5), 4 peaks are resolved. Origin of each peak transition is discussed. Finally, it was found that the PL linewidths of atomic layer epitaxy (ALE) QDs were weakly sensitive to cryostat temperatures (16–300 K). This is attributed to the nature of ALE QDs; higher uniformity and weaker wetting effect compared to SK QDs.     

Electron dynamics in modulation p-doped InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots

We investigate the electron dynamics of p-type modulation doped and undoped InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots using up-conversion photoluminescence at low temperature and room temperature. The rise time of the p-doped sample is significantly shorter than that of the undoped at low temperature. With increasing to room temperature the undoped sample exhibits a decreased rise time whilst that of the doped sample does not change. A relaxation mechanism of electron-hole scattering is proposed in which the doped quantum dots exhibit an enhanced and temperature independent relaxation due to excess built-in holes in the valence band of the quantum dots. In contrast, the rise time of the undoped quantum dots decreases significantly at room temperature due to the large availability of holes in the ground state of the valence band. Furthermore, modulation p-doping results in a shorter lifetime due to the presence of excess defects.     

Microscopic approach to many-exciton complexes in self-assembled InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots

We present a numerical calculation of many-exciton complexes in self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots. We apply continuum elasticity theory and atomistic valence-force-field method to calculate strain distribution, and make use of various methods, ranging from a quasi-atomistic tight-binding approach to the single-band effective-mass approximation, to obtain single-particle energy levels. The effect of strain is incorporated by the deformation potential theory. We expand multiexciton states in the basis of Slater determinants and solve the many-body problem by the configuration-interaction method. The dynamics of multiexcitons is studied by solving the rate equations, from which the excitation–power dependence of emission spectrum is obtained. The emission spectra calculated by the microscopic tight-binding approach are found to be in good agreement with those obtained by the simple effective-mass method.     

Hydrostatic pressure effects on exciton states in InAs/GaAs quantum dots

Based on the effective-mass approximation, the hydrostatic pressure effects on exciton states in InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) are studied by means of a variational method. Numerical results show that the exciton binding energy has a minimum with increasing dot height for any hydrostatic pressure. The interband emission energy increases when the hydrostatic pressure increases. In particular, we find that hydrostatic pressure has a remarkable effect on exciton states for small QD size. Our results are in agreement with experiment measurements.     

Anomalous Stark shifts in single vertically coupled pairs of InGaAs quantum dots

Vertically coupled Stranski Krastanow quantum dots (QDs) are predicted to exhibit strong tunnelling interactions that lead to the formation of hybridised states. We report the results of investigations into single pairs of coupled QDs in the presence of an electric field that is able to bring individual carrier levels into resonance and to investigate the Stark shift properties of the excitons present. Pronounced changes in the Stark shift behaviour of exciton features are identified and attributed to the significant redistribution of the carrier wavefunctions as resonance between two QDs is achieved. At low electric fields coherent tunnelling between the two QD ground states is identified from the change in sign of the permanent dipole moment and dramatic increase of the electron polarisability, and at higher electric fields a distortion of the Stark shift is attributed to a coherent tunnelling effect between the ground state of the upper QD and the excited state of the lower QD.     

Photoluminescence of InGaAs/GaAs strained-layer quantum well structures under high pressure

Abstract

Measurements of the photoluminescence (PL) of strained In_0.2Ga_0.8As/GaAs and In_0.15Ga_0.85As/GaAs quantum well structures together with the PL from bulk GaAs, in a diamond anvil cell show that the pressure coefficient of the ground confined state in the wells depends upon well width (L_Z). In the thinnest wells, the coefficient is closer to that of the bulk GaAs (10.7 meV/kbar), as expected. However, in the widest wells the coefficients tend to values (9.5meV/kbar for the 15% alloy and 9.1meV/kbar for the 20% alloy) that are significantly lower than the pressure coefficient of unstrained In_0.53Ga_0.47As (10.9meV/kbar). It is found that the low pressure coefficients can not be explained by the change in uniaxial stress with pressure due to a difference in bulk moduli between the barrier and well.     

Structure of InAs/GaAs quantum dots grown with Sb surfactant

InAs quantum dots in GaAs, grown under the presence of Sb by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition, were studied with cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy. Large flat quantum dots with a truncated pyramidal shape, base lengths between 15 and 30 nm, heights of 1–3 nm, and a rather pure InAs stoichiometry were found for the case of an Sb supply during the InAs deposition. If Sb is already supplied during GaAs stabilization prior to InAs deposition, the dots become even larger and tend to get intermixed with Ga, but remain coherently strained with a reversed cone-like In distribution. Regarding the quantum dot growth Sb acts as surfactant, whereas an incorporation of individual Sb atoms was observed in the wetting layer.     

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.     

Inelastic scattering of hot electrons in n-GaAs/AlAs types I and II multiple quantum wells doped with silicon

We have studied the dependence of hot electron scattering rate on temperature in n-GaAs/AlAs types I and II multiple quantum wells. For a sample with well width 37 Å, which is on the borderline between types I and II band alignment, the increase of the temperature in the range 6–80 K leads to the strong decrease of the hot electron scattering rate. We explain this result by ionization of donors and transfer of cold electrons from the Γ-valley of GaAs to the X-valley of AlAs.     

Electron Raman scattering of a hydrogenic impurity in a disc-shaped quantum dot

We have carried out the theoretical calculation of the differential cross section for the electron Raman scattering process associated with a hydrogenic impurity in a disc-shaped quantum dot (QD). We consider the impurity states confined in a disc-shaped QD with parabolic potential in the presence of an external electric field. Effects of the electric field and the confinement strength on the differential cross section are investigated. We make a comparison about the Raman intensity between with and without the Coulomb interaction. We found that the differential cross section of the hydrogenic impurity in a disc-shaped QD dependent strongly on the confinement strength, the external electric field intensity and the Coulomb interaction.     

Physical properties of highly uniform InGaAs pyramidal quantum dots with GaAs barriers: Fine structure splitting in pre-patterned substrates

InGaAs Quantum Dots embedded in GaAs barriers, grown in inverted tetrahedral recesses of ∼7 μm edge, have showed interesting characteristics in terms of uniformity and spectral narrowness of the emission. In this paper we present a study on the fine structure splitting (FSS). The investigation of about 40 single quantum dots revealed two main points: (1) the values of this parameter are very similar from dot to dot, proving again the uniformity of Pyramidal QD properties, (2) there is a little chance, in the sample investigated, to find a dot with natural zero splitting, but the values found (the mean being ∼13 μeV ) should always guarantee the capability of restoring the degeneracy with some corrective technique (e.g. application of a small magnetic field).