Short pulse physics of quantum well structures

This paper reports some recent results of time-resolved studies of the carrier dynamics in GaAs/GaAlAs quantum well structures with picosecond and subpicosecond time resolution. These experiments have provided insight into carrier trapping, energy relaxation, and carrier recombination processes. Carrier trapping into the quantum well layers is very efficient and determines the decay of the GaAlAs luminescence even for 1 μm thick cladding layers. Carrier recombination is enhanced particularly at low temperatures. This effect has been attributed to the increased overlap of electron and hole (exciton) wavefunctions in the quasi-two-dimensional carrier system.     

多晶碲化锌薄膜载能子超快动力学实验研究

利用双波长飞秒激光抽运-探测实验方法测量了掺氮多晶ZnTe薄膜在飞秒激光加热情况下载能子超快动力学过程. 采用包含电子弛豫过程和晶格加热过程的理论模型拟合实验数据, 二者符合得很好. 拟合得到10 ps以内影响掺氮多晶ZnTe薄膜表面超快反射率变化的三个弛豫过程的时间常数均为亚皮秒量级. 其中, 正振幅电子弛豫过程是由电子-光子相互作用引起的载流子扩散和带间载流子冷却过程, 负振幅电子弛豫过程是由缺陷造成的光激载能子的俘获效应引起的, 晶格加热过程主要通过电子-声子耦合过程进行的.     

Temperature behavior of Franz-Keldysh oscillation and evaluation of interface electric fields attributed to strain effect of InAs/GaAs quantum dot

In this work, the electric field-induced Franz-Keldysh effect was used to investigate the localized electric fields in GaAs interfaces attributed to strain effect of InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QD). The electric fields were investigated by photoreflectance spectroscopy (PR). PR spectra of the InAs/GaAs QDs showed complex Franz-Keldysh oscillations (FKOs) with various temperatures. It is suggested that the FKOs originated from the interface electric fields predominately caused by the strain-induced polarization at GaAs interface near the InAs QDs. The InAs/GaAs QDs have a broad range of interface electric fields from ～10⁴ V/cm to ～2х10⁵ V/cm. Temperature behavior of FKO amplitude distribution is explained by temperature dependent carrier confinement effect.     

Optically biased photoreflectance spectroscopy of a GaAs epitaxial layer and an AlGaAs/GaAs quantum well

We propose optically biased photoreflectance (OBPR) spectroscopy, which is performed by continuous illumination of a secondary monochromatic light on a sample with conventional photoreflectance (PR), as a useful tool to investigate the internal electric fields dependence of the PR signals associated with band to band and quantum level transitions. Line shape of the PR signal has a strong dependence on the internal electric field. In OBPR, if a secondary incident light is absorbed, the internal electric field is suppressed by the photo-generated electron–hole pairs. On the other hand, if the secondary light is not absorbed, the internal electric field is not affected. Through the OBPR investigation of a GaAs epitaxial layer and an AlGaAs/GaAs quantum well, we are able to obtain an absorption like spectrum by performing a wavelength scan of a secondary monochromatic light. The results of OBPR measurements at each PR peak position show the contribution of the electric fields modification by the photo-generated carriers in each layers to the PR signals that are related to band gap and quantum level transitions.     

Picosecond dynamics of hot carrier relaxation in highly excited multi-quantum well structures

Dynamics of hot carrier relaxation, exciton screening and subband level renormalization in GaAsAlGaAs multiple quantum well structures are investigated by time resolved measurements of optical absorption and gain following subpicosecond optical excitation. The cooling rate of the electron hole plasma in these two dimensional structures is approximately the same as for bulk GaAs at comparable photoexcitation density.     

Computerized setup for double-monochromator photoreflectance spectroscopy

An experimental setup for studying semiconductor structures by photoreflectance spectroscopy is designed. The double-monochromator-based optical scheme of the setup makes it possible to depress uncontrolled heating of the sample and diminishes a bending of the energy bands due to charge carrier photogeneration. Accordingly, the photoreflectance spectra are detected with a minimal influence of the modulating and probe radiations on the sample. With this setup, the room-temperature photoreflectance spectra from GaAs/GaAsP superlattices are taken and the interband transition energies, as well as a potential step in the conduction band of these superlattices, are measured.     

半绝缘GaAs的双调制反射光谱研究

半导体材料电子能带结构的确定对研究其物理性质及其在半导体器件方面的应用有重要意义.光调制反射光谱是一种无损和高灵敏度的表征半导体材料电子能带结构的光学手段.光调制反射光谱中激光调制导致的材料介电函数的变化在联合态密度奇点附近表现得更为明显.通过测量这些变化,可以得到有关材料能带结构临界点的信息.然而在传统的单调制反射光谱中,激光调制信号的光谱线型拟合和临界点数目的分析往往被瑞利散射和荧光信号所干扰.本文将双调制技术与双通道锁相放大器结合,消除了瑞利信号和荧光信号的干扰,获得了具有较高信噪比的调制反射光谱信号.双通道锁相放大器可以同时解调出反射光谱信号及其经泵浦激光调制后的细微变化量,避免了多次采集时可能存在的系统误差.利用这种技术,在可见激光(2.33 eV)泵浦下,我们测量了半绝缘GaAs体材料从近红外至紫外波段(1.1-6.0 eV)的双调制反射光谱,获得了多个能带结构临界点的信息.探测到了高于泵浦能量之上的与GaAs能带结构高阶临界点对应的特征光谱信号,说明带隙以上高阶临界点的光调制反射光谱本质是光生载流子对内建电场的调制,并不是来自该临界点附近的能带填充效应.这一结果表明双调制反射光谱能够对半导体材料能带结构带隙及其带隙以上临界点进行更准确的表征.     

InGaAs/GaAs单量子阱PL谱的温度变化特性

采用分子束外延方法制备了InGaAs/GaAs单量子阱,利用自组装的光致荧光探测系统,对其进行了光致荧光谱研究。考察了不同温度下荧光峰波长、峰形的影响。研究结果表明:高温时荧光主要是源于带—带间载流子跃迁,而在低温时则来源于束缚在量子阱中激子的跃迁。     

长寿命吸收过程对超快动力学过程测量的影响

使用飞秒时间分辨抽运-探测透射光谱技术,实验研究了GaAs体材料中光激发载流子的超快弛豫动力学的波长依赖.在相同的光激发载流子浓度和抽运/探测比时,发现760 nm和780 nm两中心波长处的瞬态透射变化延迟扫描信号出现负的和振荡的信号.与模拟计算结果对比,判定该实验瞬态信号是错误的.分析探测器输出波形,发现是由于反相波形导致的,而引起反相波形的原因在于样品中存在长寿命的吸收过程.指出通过提高探测器上的抽运/探测比能够矫正反相波形,从而获得正确的瞬态透射变化动力学.提高探测器上的抽运/探测比与目前的应尽量减小抽运光对探测器的散射贡献的观点是对立的.文章的研究结果对应用抽运-探测时间分辨光谱技术正确地测量超快瞬态动力学过程具有重要的参考价值. 关键词： 时间分辨抽运-探测透射光谱 饱和吸收 吸收增强 GaAs体材料     

Resonant Raman scattering of optical phonons in self-assembled quantum dots

We have investigated the carrier relaxation mechanism in InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots by photoluminescence excitation (PLE) spectroscopy. Near-field scanning optical microscope successfully shows that a PLE resonance at a relaxation energy of 36 meV can be seen in all single-dot luminescence spectra, and thus can be attributed to resonant Raman scattering by a GaAs LO phonon to the excitonic ground state. In addition, a number of sharp resonances observed in single-dot PLE spectra can be identified as resonant Raman features due to localized phonons, which are observed in the conventional Raman spectrum. The results reveal the mechanism for the efficient relaxation of carriers observed in self-assembled quantum dots: the carriers can relax within the continuum states, and make transitions to the excitonic ground state by phonon emission.     

DYNAMICS OF CARRIER CAPTURE IN AlGaAs/GaAs MULTIPLE QUANTUM WELLS

Dynamics of carrier relaxation and capture in AlGaAs/GaAs multiple quantum wells (MQW) at 80 K is studied using picosecond luminescence and femtosecond absorption saturation measurements. Carriers generated in the wells and in the barriers scatter initially out of the excited states to a quasi-equilibrium state in 35 and 400 femtoseconds, respectively, before they are captured into the bound states of the quantum wells. Carrier capture occurs during carrier cooling and recombination. A carrier capture time of 25 ps has been deduced from time-resolved luminescence.     

半导体量子阱中电子自旋弛豫和动量弛豫

根据电子自旋轨道耦合对自旋极化弛豫影响的DP机理进一步导出了半导体中电子自旋弛豫与动量弛豫及载流子浓度的关系，并采用飞秒抽运探测技术在室温下测量AlGaAs/GaAs 多量子阱中载流子浓度在 1×10¹⁷—1×10¹⁸cm^-3范围内，电子自旋弛豫时间由58ps增加至82 ps的变化情况，与理论计算值符合，说明了随着载流子浓度的增加，载流子间的频繁散射加速了电子动量驰豫，减弱了电子自旋轨道耦合作用，从而延长了电子自旋寿命. 关键词： 电子自旋轨道耦合 电子自旋弛豫和动量弛豫 飞秒光谱技术     

Be掺杂对InGaAsN/GaAs量子阱性能的提高

InGaAsN/GaAs量子阱中进行铍(Be)元素重掺杂能显著提高其光学性质,并且发光波长发生了红移.X射线衍射摇摆曲线清楚地证实了铍掺杂抑制了InGaAsN(Be)/GaAs量子阱在退火过程中的应力释放.对比退火前,退火后的没有进行铍掺杂的量子阱样品的量子阱的X射线摇摆曲线衍射峰明显向GaAs衬底峰偏移;而对于掺铍的量子阱样品而言,这样的偏移要小很多.     

Photoreflectance of GaAs doping superlattices

We have performed room-temperature photoreflectance measurements on two GaAs doping superlattices having considerably different built-in potentials (1.2 eV and 85 meV). The first sample exhibits Franz-Keldysh oscillations, the period of the oscillations corresponding to the . A second dc pump beam has been used to change the electron-hole concentration and hence the built-in field. The spectrum of the second sample displays a number of features corresponding to quantized electron and hole states. There is qualitative agreement between experiment and theoretical calculation based on a two-band tight-binding model. In both samples the dependence of the amplitude of the photoreflectance signal on pump chopping frequency yields the minority carrier lifetime.     

Dynamics of hot carrier cooling in photo-excited GaAs

Carrier relaxation following excitation with subpicosecond optical pulses, determined from time resolved nearband gap transmission spectrum changes, is described for GaAs. For n < 5×10¹⁷cm^-3 the observed relaxation can be related to carrier-phonon interaction, but at higher densities the rate of relaxation is significantly slowed, possibly due to carrier screening.     

Intra-acceptor hole relaxation in Be δ-doped GaAs/AlAs multiple quantum wells

This paper studies the dynamics of intra-acceptor hole relaxation in Be δ -doped GaAs/AlAs multiple quantum wells (MQW) with doping at the centre by time-resolved pump-probe spectroscopy using a picosecond free electron laser for infrared experiments. Low temperature far-infrared absorption measurements clearly show three principal absorption lines due to transitions of the Be acceptor from the ground state to the first three odd-parity excited states respectively. The pump-probe experiments are performed at different temperatures and different pump pulse wavelengths. The hole relaxation time from 2p excited state to 1s ground state in MQW is found to be much shorter than that in bulk GaAs, and shown to be independent of temperature but strongly dependent on wavelength. The zone-folded acoustic phonon emission and slower decay of the wavefunctions of impurity states are suggested to account for the reduction of the 2p excited state lifetime in MQW. The wavelength dependence of the 2p lifetime is attributed to the diffusion of the Be atom δ -layer in quantum wells.     

Photoconductivity and photoreflectance studies of quantum-wells and superlattices

We have performed room-temperature in-plane photoconductivity and photoreflectance measurements on various types of GaAs/AlAs quantum-wells and superlattices. The photoconductivity spectra of samples with even a few (1 to 7) quantum-wells show sharp excitonic structures superimposed on the bulk GaAs signal, and provide a useful alternative to absorption spectra. The photoreflectance spectra are demonstrated experimentally to follow the third derivative of the photoconductivity spectra, as previously reported for bulk materials, even though the mechanism of photoreflectance must be different in the present two-dimensional systems.     

GaAs光电阴极稳定性的光谱响应测试与分析

利用光谱响应测试仪对激活后的反射式GaAs(Cs,O)光电阴极进行了稳定性测试,获得了阴极随时间变化的光谱响应曲线,并表征了阴极在衰减过程中的性能参数变化.结果表明:积分灵敏度和峰值响应随着时间不断下降,截止波长向短波推移,表面逸出几率的下降是阴极衰减的直接原因.不同波长下光谱响应的衰减速率并不相同,波长越长,衰减速率越大,因此激活台内阴极在灵敏度衰减的同时长波响应能力也在不断下降.     

Photoreflectance study on the photovoltaic effect in InAs/GaAs quantum dot solar cell

To investigate the effect of quantum dot (QD) layers on the photovoltaic process of InAs/GaAs QD solar cell (QDSC), QD layers were embedded in conventional GaAs p-n junction SC (GaAs SC) structures. The photoreflectance (PR) was examined at different temperatures (T) and excitation light intensities (I_ex) to investigate the photovoltaic effects through observation of the Franz-Keldysh oscillations (FKOs) in the PR spectra. The evaluated the p-n junction electric fields (F_pn) of the InAs QDSC was different from that of the GaAs SC. Moreover, InAs QDSC show that the different photovoltaic behaviors compared with GaAs SC by varying I_ex and T. From these considerations, we suggest that the different photovoltaic behaviors are caused by the effect of the additional photo-carrier generation in InAs QD layers resulting in enhancement of the field screening effect in F_pn.     

Photoreflectance study of plasma-etched semi-insulating GaAs substrates treated

Semi-insulating GaAs(100) substrates subjected to ion plasma etching in different regimes have been investigated by photoreflectance spectroscopy. The photoreflectance spectra of the processed samples exhibit Franz-Keldysh oscillations, which indicate a decrease in the defect density in the surface region. On the basis of the experimental data and the results of simulation of the photoreflectance spectra, optimal regimes of sample etching have been found.