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.     

Investigation of populated InAs/GaAs quantum dots by photoluminescence and photoreflectance

We studied self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots by contrasting photoluminescence and photoreflectance spectra from 10 K to room temperature. The photoluminescence spectral profiles comprise contributions from four equally separated energy levels of InAs quantum dots. The emission profiles involving ground state and excited states have different temperature evolution. Abnormal spectral narrowing occurred above 200 K. In the photoreflectance spectra, major features corresponding to the InAs wetting layer and GaAs layers were observed. Temperature dependences of spectral intensities of these spectral features indicate that they originate from different photon-induced modulation mechanisms. Considering interband transitions of quantum dots were observed in photoluminescence spectra and those of wetting layer were observed in photoreflectance profiles, we propose that quantum dot states of the system are occupied up to the fourth energy level which is below the wetting layer quantum state.     

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.     

Photoreflectance study of InAs ultrathin layer embedded in Si-delta-doped GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

Photoreflectance and photoluminescence studies were performed to characterize InAs ultrathin layer embedded in Si-delta-doped GaAs/AlGaAs high electron mobility transistors. These structures were grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy on (1 0 0) oriented GaAs substrates with different silicon-delta-doped layer densities. Interband energy transitions in the InAs ultrathin layer quantum well were observed below the GaAs band gap in the photoreflectance spectra, and assigned to electron-heavy-hole (E_e-hh) and electron-light-hole (E_e-lh) fundamental transitions. These transitions were shifted to lower energy with increasing silicon-δ-doping density. This effect is in good agreement with our theoretical results based on a self-consistent solution of the coupled Schrödinger and Poisson equations and was explained by increased escape of photogenerated carriers and enhanced Quantum Confined Stark Effect in the Si-delta-doped InAs/GaAs QW. In the photoreflectance spectra, not only the channel well interband energy transitions were observed, but also features associated with the GaAs and AlGaAs bulk layers located at about 1.427 and 1.8 eV, respectively. By analyzing the Franz-Keldysh Oscillations observed in the spectral characteristics of Si-δ-doped samples, we have determined the internal electric field introduced by ionized Si-δ-doped centers. We have observed an increase in the electric field in the InAs ultrathin layer with increasing silicon content. The results are explained in terms of doping dependent ionized impurities densities and surface charges.     

Photoreflectance spectroscopy of GaAs doping superlattices

Room temperature photoreflectance of molecular beam epitaxy GaAs doping superlattices was measured. Additional structures corresponding to forbidden transitions (Δn≠0) were observed at very low pump beam intensity. Experimental results show that the dominant modulation mechanism of photoreflectance of doping superlattices is different from that of bulk materials. We suggest that the photoreflectance spectrum of doping superlattices have mainly first derivative functional lineshapes, which is caused by the subband shift in doping superlattices. The experiments are well explained by this mechanism.     

Simplified calculations of band-gap renormalization in quantum-wells

Non-linear optical properties of photoexcited semiconductor quantum-wells are of interest because of their opto-electronic device application possibilities. Many-body interactions of the optically created electrons and holes lead to the band-gap renormalization which in turn determines the absorption spectra of such systems. We employ a simplified approach to calculate the band-gap renormalization in quantum-well systems by considering the interaction of a single electron-hole pair with the collective excitations (plasmons). This method neglects the exchange-correlation effects but fully accounts for the Coulomb-hole term in the single-particle self-energy. We demonstrate that the density, temperature, and well-width dependence of the band-gap renormalization for GaAs quantum-wells within our model is in good agreement with the experimental results.     

Comparison of optical pump-probe characterization of low-temperature-grown GaAs at well-above-bandgap and near-bandedge wavelengths

Annealed low-temperature-grown GaAs was studied by time-resolved photoreflectance measurement at well-above-bandgap photon energies and by photoreflectance as well as transmission measurements at near-bandedge wavelength. At near-bandedge wavelength, the initial changes in reflectivity and transmission were observed to relax at identical relaxation rate, which was attributed to the absence of carrier cooling and the domination of carrier trapping. All the measured photoreflectance traces were found to be well fitted by the previously proposed three-component decomposition procedure. Among the three components, the fast positive peak was attributed to absorption bleaching and its relaxation, that is, the scattering of the photo-carrier out of their initially excited states by carrier cooling and trapping. The decay times of the positive peak, combined with the carrier cooling times extracted from photoreflectance measurement on semi-insulating GaAs, give consistent estimate of carrier trapping time at all wavelengths within the spectral range. Our results verify that well-above-bandgap photoreflectance measurement combined with the three-component fitting procedure can be used to estimate the photo-carrier trapping time which are consistent with that obtained by near-bandedge photoreflectance and transmission techniques.     

Long lifetime photoconductivity in semi-insulating bulk GaAs

We report a new photomemory effect in semi-insulating bulk GaAs. Persistent illumination with 1.15 eV photons induces a photosensitivity state in GaAs, which is characterized by a slow decay of the photoconductivity, after the light is switched-off. The most relevant phenomenological aspects of this effect are summarized in this communication.     

Phonon mediated photodetector

Quantum-wells and quantum dots and related semiconductor nanostructures have been widely investigated for infrared devices. Here we propose a new general approach to make use of polar optical phonons in quantum-wells for infrared (IR) and terahertz (THz) detection. As the first example, we show the coupling of phonon and intersubband transition leading to Fano resonance in photocurrent spectra. We investigate the phenomenon experimentally in specially designed GaAs/AlGaAs quantum-well infrared photodetectors. Finally, we discuss the future research and potentials.     

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.     

Photoreflectance and contactless electroreflectance spectroscopy of GaAs-based structures: The below band gap oscillation features

GaAs-based structures characterized below band gap oscillation features (OFs) in photoreflectance (PR) are studied in both PR and contactless electro-reflectance (CER) spectroscopies. It has been shown that the OFs are usually very strong for structures grown on n-type GaAs substrate. The origin of the OFs is the modulation of the refractive index in the sample due to a generation of additional carriers by the modulated pump beam. The presence of OFs in PR spectra complicates the analysis of PR signal related to quantum well transitions. Therefore, PR spectroscopy is often limited to samples grown on semi-insolating (SI) type substrates. However, sometimes the OFs could be observed for structures grown on SI-type GaAs substrates. In this paper we show that the OFs could be successfully eliminated by applying the CER technique instead of PR one because during CER measurements any additional carriers are not generated and hence CER spectra are free of OFs. This advantage of CER spectroscopy is very important in investigations of all structures for which OFs are present in PR spectra.     

Photoquenching effect and its consequence in p type gallium arsenide

In order to examine the origin of the occasionally observed shift in the photoconductivity peak with respect to the band gap value; optical and electro-optical investigation of a p type GaAs crystal was carried out. The absorption and photochonductivity spectra were recorded and by comparing both spectra, a model based on the transition of electrons from the oxygen “adsorbate surface states” is proposed to explain the strong photoquenching observed on the high energy side of the band gap value. This also explains the observed shift.     

Impurity photoconductivity in epitaxial layers of gallium arsenide

Impurity photoconductivity spectra in the range 0.5–1.5 eV are studied in epitaxial layers of n-GaAs grown on substrates of semiconductive GaAs withρ > 10⁶ Ω·cm in the system Ga-AsCl₃ -H₂. The effect of uncontrolled acceptor impurities on the impurity photoconductivity spectrum is evaluated.     

Oscillator strength of type-II light-hole exciton in InxGa1−xAs/GaAs strained single quantum wells

We have investigated the excitonic properties of In_0.15Ga_0.85As/GaAs strained single quantum wells by using photoreflectance spectroscopy and a variational calculation method. We clearly detected the photoreflectance signal of the type-II light-hole exciton, which consists of an electron confined in the InGaAs layer and a light hole located in the thick GaAs layer, in addition to the type-I heavy-hole exciton confined in the InGaAs layer. The calculated results of the overlap integral of the envelope function in the type-II light-hole exciton predict that the oscillator strength is remarkably enhanced with decreasing the InGaAs-layer thickness. This is demonstrated by the layer-thickness dependence of the photoreflectance intensity of the type-II light-hole exciton.     

Lineshape analysis of photoreflectance spectra from InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells

The fundamental optical transitions in In_0.15Ga_0.85As/GaAs single symmetric quantum wells (QWs) are studied through photoreflectance (PR) measurements and their dependence on the well distance from the surface. A phase rotation of the lineshape of the PR signal is observed as was predicted in our previous works. PR spectra of several samples, measured at 77 K, are compared with results of PR lineshape calculations, and a fairly good agreement is found. The quantum-confined Stark effect is shown to be the dominant modulation mechanism in the QW. Pronounced interference effects make PR spectra from QWs sensitive to the cap layer thickness.     

Optical properties of GaNAs/GaAs triple quantum well structures

Optical properties of the GaNAs/GaAs triple quantum well structures were characterized by using photoreflectance and photoluminescence spectroscopy at different temperatures. The excitonic interband transitions of the triple quantum well systems were observed in the spectral range above hν=E_g(GaN_xAs_1−x). A matrix transfer algorithm was used to match the GaN_xAs_1−x/GaAs boundary conditions and calculate the triple quantum well subband energies numerically for theoretical comparison. The internal electric field in the system was extracted from Franz-Keldysh oscillations in the photoreflectance spectra. The influences of the annealing treatment on the transition energy and the internal electric field are also analyzed.     

Photoreflectance study of InAs quantum dots on GaAs(n 1 1) substrates

InAs self-assembling quantum dots (SAQDs) were grown on GaAs(n 1 1) substrates (n=2,3,4,5) by molecular beam epitaxy. Their structural and optical properties were studied by reflection high-energy electron diffraction, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and photoreflectance spectroscopy (PR). The PR spectra from 0.7 to 1.3 eV presented transitions associated to the SAQDs. The energy transitions were obtained by fitting the PR spectra employing the third derivative line-shape model. For n=2,4,5, two functions were required to fit the spectra. For n=3 only one function was required, in agreement with the more uniform SAQDs size distribution observed by AFM on GaAs(3 1 1)A. Franz–Keldysh oscillations (FKO) were observed in the PR spectra at energies higher than the GaAs band gap. From the FKO analysis we obtained the GaAs built-in internal electric field strength (F_int) at the InAs/GaAs(n 1 1) heterointerface. From F_int we made an estimation of the GaAs strain at the heterointerface.     

EL2 deep level in sub-bandgap surface photovoltage spectra in GaAs bulk crystals

Experimentally observed surface-photovoltage-method (SPV) spectra in the subbandgap energy range are presented for a real (100)GaAs surface, treated with preepitaxial procedures. Conductive, n-type GaAs and semi-insulating GaAs are studied. It is shown that SPV spectra are formed as a result of the simultaneous action of both surface states and deep bulk levels. The spectral shape of the surface-state photoionization cross-section is qualitatively determined. The influence of the deep bulk levels on the SPV spectra is explained, and the photoionization cross-section for both Cr and EL2 levels is qualitatively determined.     

Al/GaAs表面量子阱界面层的原位光调制反射光谱研究

用分子束外延（MBE）方法在GaAs表面量子阱上外延生长不同厚度的Al层，以超高真空下的原位光调制光谱（PR）作为测量手段，研究Al扩散形成的表面势垒层对于GaAs表面量子阱中带间跃迁峰位和峰形的影响.根据跃迁峰的变化，采用有效质量近似理论计算出了Al和GaAs 的互扩散长度为0.5nm，这是半导体工艺中的一个重要常数. 关键词： Al GaAs 原位光调制反射光谱（PR） 分子束外延（MBE）     

掺杂分子束外延GaAs薄膜表面和GaAs-GaAs界面的光反射调制谱

报道了用光反射调制谱(PR)测量掺杂分子束外延GaAs薄膜表面和界面电场的结果。分别用He-Ne激光和He-Cd激光作调制光,由于它们的穿透深度不同,可以有效地区分来自表面和界面的PR信号。由PR谱推算出薄膜表面和界面的电场。研究了薄膜干涉效应对调制光谱的影响,对界面电场的成因进行了分析和讨论。 关键词：