The refractive nonlinearities of InAs/GaAs quantum dots above-bandgap energy

The third-order optical nonlinear refractive properties of InAs/GaAs quantum dots grown by molecular beam epitaxy have been measured using the reflection Z-scan technique at above-bandgap energy. The nonlinear refractive index and nonlinear absorption index of the InAs/GaAs quantum dots were determined for wavelengths from 740 to 777 nm. The measured results are compared with the nonlinear refractive response of several typical III-V group semiconductor materials. The corresponding mechanisms responsible for the large nonlinear response are discussed.     

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.     

Influence of nanomechanical force on the electronic structure of InAs/GaAs quantum dots

We show nanomechanical force is useful to dynamically control the optical response of self-assembled quantum dots, giving a method to shift electron and heavy hole levels, interval of electron and heavy hole energy levels, and the emission wavelength of quantum dots (QDs). The strain, the electron energy levels, and heavy hole energy levels of InAs/GaAs(001) quantum dots with vertical nanomechanical force are investigated. Both the lattice mismatch and nanomechanical force are considered at the same time. The results show that the hydrostatic and the biaxial strains inside the QDs subjected to nanomechanical force vary with nanomechanical force. That gives the control for tailoring band gaps and optical response. Moreover, due to strain-modified energy, the band edge is also influenced by nanomechanical force. The nanomechanical force is shown to influence the band edge. As is well known, the band offset affects the electronic structure, which shows that the nanomechanical force is proven to be useful to tailor the emission wavelength of QDs. Our research helps to better understand how the nanomechanical force can be used to dynamically control the optics of quantum dots.     

The preferential formation site of dislocations in InAs/GaAs quantum dots

In this paper, taking elastic anisotropy into consideration, we use a dislocation position dependent model to calculate the preferential formation site of the pure edge and 60° mixed dislocation segment in different shaped InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs). From the result, it is clear that for the pure edge dislocations the most energy favorable position is always the base center of the quantum dots. While as to the 60° mixed dislocations, the positions near to the edge of the quantum dot base are the energy favorable area and the exact position is changed with different aspect ratio of the quantum dot.     

Raman study of InAs quantum dots on GaAs/InP grown by low pressure metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

Raman spectra of InAs quantum dots (QDs) on InP substrate were investigated. Both longitudinal-optic (LO) and transverse-optic (TO) frequency of InAs QDs showed a large blue-shift comparing to its bulk due to the compressive strain in InAs QDs. Raman scattering of InAs QDs with a thin GaAs interlayer was studied. We obtained that the peak position of LO and TO mode of InAs QDs became larger blue-shifted when we inserted the GaAs layer. At the same time, we found a red-shift of the frequency of GaAs LO mode because of tensile strain. Theoretical calculation was performed and its prediction coincided with our experiment results well. They both showed that strain played an important role in formation of InAs QDs.     

Size dependence of biexciton binding energy in single InAs/GaAs quantum dots

This paper studies the size dependence of biexciton binding energy in single quantum dots (QDs) by using atomic force microscopy and micro-photoluminescence measurements. It finds that the biexciton binding energies in the QDs show ``binding' and ``antibinding' properties which correspond to the large and small sizes of QDs, respectively. The experimental results can be well interpreted by the biexciton potential curve, calculated from the exciton molecular model and the Heitler--London method.     

Optical probe of InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots grown using low growth rate and growth interruptions

We have investigated the optical properties of InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots (QDs), grown at 500 °C using a low growth rate (0.014 ML/s), growth interruptions and a two-stage capping process. The samples exhibited large-size dots with densities in the range (3-4.5) × 10⁹ cm⁻². Macro-photoluminescence (macro-PL) measurements revealed the presence of five electronic sub-bands in the dots, with the ground state (GS) emission exhibiting a linewidth of ∼70 meV. Because of the dots large size and composition dispersions, associated with the growth method, it was possible to resolve single dots emissions using micro-PL (μ-PL) excitation in the barrier layers of the as-grown samples. The sharp PL lines were detected 60-140 meV above the GS peak energy. High-resolution resonant optical excitation of the dots PL evidenced that these fine lines originate from exciton complexes confined to the GS of individual dots. Non-resonant power dependence μ-PL spectroscopy results further confirmed the occurrence of both single exciton (X) and biexciton (XX) radiative recombinations. Finally, with increasing lattice temperature up to 95 K, PL emissions from most of these nanostructures suffered the usual thermal quenching, with activation energies (E_a) ranging between 12 and 41 meV. The relatively small values of E_a suggest that the growth technique implemented here favors the formation of defects centers in the vicinity of the QDs.     

Finite element analysis of stress and strain distributions in InAs/GaAs quantum dots

In this paper, we perform systematic calculations of the stress and strain distributions in InAs/GaAs truncated pyramidal quantum dots (QDs) with different wetting layer (WL) thickness, using the finite element method (FEM). The stresses and strains are concentrated at the boundaries of the WL and QDs, are reduced gradually from the boundaries to the interior, and tend to a uniform state for the positions away from the boundaries. The maximal strain energy density occurs at the vicinity of the interface between the WL and the substrate. The stresses, strains and released strain energy are reduced gradually with increasing WL thickness. The above results show that a critical WL thickness may exist, and the stress and strain distributions can make the growth of QDs a growth of strained three-dimensional island when the WL thickness is above the critical value, and FEM can be applied to investigate such nanosystems, QDs, and the relevant results are supported by the experiments.     

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.     

Suppressing the multimodal size distribution of InAs/GaAs quantum dots through flattening the surface fluctuation

A method of suppressing the multimodal size distribution of InAs/GaAs quantum dots(QDs) using molecular beam epitaxy through flattening the substrate surface is reported in this work.It is found that the surface roughness plays an important role in the growth of QDs through continuous surface evolution(SEQDs).SEQDs are the main components of small QD ensemble in QDs with multimodal size distribution.It is suggested that most of the SEQDs are very likely to nucleate during the growth interruption rather than...     

Interband transitions and electronic properties of InAs/GaAs quantum dots embedded in AlxGa1−xAs/GaAs modulation-doped heterostructures

Reflection high-energy electron diffraction, atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and double-crystal X-ray curves showed that high-quality InAs quantum dot (QD) arrays inserted into GaAs barriers were embedded in an Al_0.3Ga_0.7As/GaAs heterostructure. The temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) spectra of the InAs/GaAs QDs showed that the exciton peak corresponding interband transition from the ground electronic subband to the ground heavy-hole subband (E₁-HH₁) was dominantly observed and that the peak position and the full width at half maximum corresponding to the interband transitions of the PL spectrum were dependent on the temperature. The activation energy of the electrons confined in the InAs/GaAs QDs was 115 meV. The electronic subband energy and the energy wave function of the Al_0.3Ga_0.7As/GaAs heterostructures were calculated by using a self-consistent method. The electronic subband energies in the InAs/GaAs QDs were calculated by using a three-dimensional spatial plane wave method, and the value of the calculated (E₁-HH₁) transition in the InAs/GaAs QDs was in reasonable agreement with that obtained from the PL measurement.     

Photoreflectance characterization of InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots grown by ALMBE

We report on a photoreflectance investigation in the 0.8-1.5 eV photon energy range and at temperatures from 80 to 300 K on stacked layers of InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) grown by Atomic-Layer Molecular Beam Epitaxy. We observed clear and well-resolved structures, which we attribute to the optical response of different QD families. The dependence of the ground state transition energy on the number of stacked QD layers is investigated and discussed considering vertical coupling between dots of the same column. It is shown that Coulomb interaction can account for the observed optical response of QD families with different morphology coexisting in the same sample. Received 17 November 1999     

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.     

Investigation of interband optical transitions by near-resonant magneto-photoluminescence in InAs/GaAs quantum dots

Resonant photoluminescence experiments performed on self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots under strong magnetic field up to 28 T give rise to an accurate determination of the interband magneto-optical transitions. As this technique minimizes the effect of the homogeneous broadening of the transitions due to the size and composition fluctuations of the dots, the experimental spectra display well-defined peaks. A good agreement is found between the experimental data and calculations using an effective mass model including the coupling between the mixed exciton-LO phonon states. Transitions involving excitonic polarons are clearly identified. Moreover, a light-hole to conduction transition is also evidenced in agreement with previous theoretical predictions.     

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.     

Temperature dependence of the electron distribution in a GaAs matrix with embedded InAs quantum dots

We report on the effect of the Debye averaging process on the CV characteristics of a sample containing four coupled planes of InAs self-assembled quantum dots. The observed electron distribution presented a dynamical dependence of the temperature during the C–V measurements which was explained in terms of the screening length dependence on the temperature. In addition, using the C–V data, we calculated the electron density at the planes containing the InAs dots and we have observed a high-temperature stability: the electron density at the quantum dots remained constant over a large range of temperature.     

Thermodynamic analysis of the shape, anisotropy and formation process of InAs/InP(0 0 1) quantum dots and quantum sticks grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

This study describes the origin of the size and shape anisotropy of InAs/InP(0 0 1) quantum dots (QDs) grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). The geometry of the QDs is determined by carefully analyzing transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images. An analytical model adapted to our QD geometry is used to understand the formation mechanism of the QDs, and to describe the origin of their size dispersion. A shape transition from QDs to elongated quantum sticks (QS) is observed under As-poor growth conditions. This transition, driven by thermodynamics, is clearly described by our model.     

Synthesis and nonlinear optical characterization of SnO2 quantum dots

The present paper demonstrates the preparation and characterization of SnO₂ semiconductor quantum dots. Extremely small ∼1.1 and ∼1.4 nm SnO₂ samples were prepared by microwave assisted technique with a frequency of 2450 MHz. Based on XRD analysis, the phase, crystal structure and purity of the SnO₂ samples are determined. UV-vis measurements showed that, for the both size of SnO₂ samples, excitonic peaks are obtained at ∼238 and ∼245 nm corresponding to ∼1.1 nm (sample 1) and ∼1.4 nm (sample 2) sizes, respectively. STM analysis showed that, the quantum dots are spherical shaped and highly monodispersed. At first, the linear absorption coefficients for two different sizes of SnO₂ quantum dots were measured by employing a CW He-Ne laser at 632.8 nm and were obtained about 1.385 and 4.175 cm⁻¹, respectively. Furthermore, the nonlinear refractive index, n₂, and nonlinear absorption coefficient, β, were measured using close and open aperture Z-scan respectively using the same laser. As quantum dots have strong absorption coefficient to obtain purely effective n₂, we divided the closed aperture transmittance by the corresponding open aperture in the same incident beam intensity. The nonlinear refraction indices of these quantum dots were measured in order of 10⁻⁷ (cm²/W) with negative sign and the nonlinear absorption coefficients were obtained for both in order of 10⁻³ (cm/W) with positive sign.     

Properties of narrow gap quantum dots and wells in the InAs/InSb/GaSb systems

The properties of InSb quantum dots grown by metal organic vapour phase epitaxy are summarised as deduced from photoluminescence, magneto-photoluminescence, and far-infrared modulated photoluminescence experiments. A technique is described for shifting the emission of these dots to lower energy by coupling them with a narrow InAs quantum well, leading to the demonstration of electroluminescence at 2.3 μm.     

Control of structural and excitonic properties of self-organized InAs/GaAs quantum dots

A systematic dependence of excitonic properties on the size of self-organized InAs/GaAs quantum dots is presented. The bright exciton fine-structure splitting changes from negative values to more than 0.5 meV, and the biexciton binding energy varies from antibinding to binding, as the height of truncated pyramidal dots increases from 2 to above 9 InAs monolayers. A novel mode of metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy was developed for growing such quantum dots with precise shape control. The dots consist of pure InAs and feature heights varying in steps of complete InAs monolayers. Such dot ensembles evolve from a strained, rough two-dimensional layer with a thickness close to the critical value for the onset of the 2D–3D transition. Dots with a common height represent subensembles with small inhomogeneous broadening. Tuning of subensemble emission energy is achieved by varying the mean lateral extension of the respective QDs. Detailed knowledge of the structural properties of individual dots enable realistic k·p calculations to analyze the origin of the observed excitonic properties. The binding energies of charged and neutral excitons increase due to correlation by the gradually increasing number of bound states for increasing dot size. The monotonously increasing magnitude of the fine-structure splitting with dot size is shown to be caused by piezoelectricity. The identification of key parameters allows to tailor exciton properties, providing a major step towards the development of novel applications.