High pressure photoluminescence and resonant Raman study of GaAs

Photoluminescence and resonant Raman scattering have been studied in GaAs under hydrostatic stress up to 72 kbar. From the pressure dependence of the photoluminescence intensity the pressure coefficient of the X₆ conduction band minimum in GaAs has been determined. The pressure dependence of zone edge phonon energies in GaAs is also reported.     

FTIR-spectroscopy of (GaAS)n/(AlAs)m superlattices

The optical properties of (GaAs)_n/(AlAs)_m superlattices in the infra-red spectral region have been studied. The confinement of optical phonons has been observed in both GaAs and AlAs layers of superlattices under investigation. The superlattice modes caused by the coupling between LO phonons and collective intersubband excitations have been found in doped superlattices. Macroscopic and microscopic calculations have been used for the analysis of experimental results. Good agreement with experiment has been obtained.     

Electrical performance and Raman scattering characterization of GaAs planar photoconductors

Raman scattering has been used to characterize the effects of processing techniques on the photosensitive area of GaAs planar photoconductors. The longitudinal optic (LO) phonon observed in the first-order Raman spectra was studied to probe the consequences of both chemical and plasma etching on the crystalline quality of an n-doped GaAs photosentitive area. This method has also been used to examine the stress at the interface of a Si₃N₄ film and an n-doped GaAs surface. For this purpose, three specially designed GaAs planar photoconductors (SN 353, AN 344, SN 344) have been fabricated. Electrical measurements on the photoconductors support the results of Raman study. First, as expected, increasing the number of processes leads to slightly poorer electrical performance. Secondly, a significant strain-induced shift in the GaAs LO phonon frequency has been observed under the Si₃N₄ film for the AN 344 photoconductor. However, the electrical performances of this device clearly indicate no dramatic change in the value of the n-doped surface potential.     

The evaporation of GaAs under equilibrium and non-equilibrium conditions using a modulated beam technique

The evaporation of GaAs under both Knudsen and Langmuir conditions has been studied using a quadrupole resonance mass spectrometer. Particular care was taken to separate beam from background signals by modulating the evaporation fluxes using a mechanical chopper. In the temperature range 850–1100°K, the arsenic vapour flux from GaAs consists mainly of As₂ under both Knudsen and Langmuir conditions. Vapour pressure data for gallium and arsenic over GaAs are presented. A congruent evaporation point occurs at 898°K under Knudsen conditions. Under Langmuir conditions, GaAs evaporates congruently below 930°K but above this temperature arsenic is lost preferentially. Under Langmuir conditions constant evaporation rates were not observed from a {100} surface at any temperature studied.     

Effect of interaction in the Ga–As–O system on the morphology of a GaAs surface during molecular-beam epitaxy

A thermodynamic analysis of processes of interphase interaction in the Ga–As–O system has been performed and their theoretical laws have been determined, taking into account nonlinear thermal physical properties of the compounds, the oxide film compositions, and modes of molecular-beam epitaxy of GaAs. The processes of interaction of the native oxide of GaAs with the substrate material and also with Ga and As₄ from a vapor gaseous phase have been studied experimentally. The experimental results correlate with the results of the thermodynamic analysis. The laws of influence of the removal of the proper oxide on the evolution of the GaAs surface morphology under conditions of the molecular-beam epitaxy have been proposed.     

Electron microscopy investigation of GaAs(100)-(Ga2Se3)-GaAs nanostructures

The GaAs(100)-Ga₂Se₃ heterostructures have been investigated by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. The sequence of structural transformations at the GaAs(100) surface during treatment in selenium vapor has been determined. It has been found that the preliminary treatment of the GaAs(100) surface in selenium vapor increases the orienting effect of the GaAs(100) substrate on the GaAs film growth.     

Molecular beam epitaxy growth of GaAs on an offcut Ge substrate

Molecular beam epitaxy growth of GaAs on an offcut Ge (100) substrate has been systemically investigated. A high quality GaAs/Ge interface and GaAs film on Ge have been achieved. High temperature annealing before GaAs deposition is found to be indispensable to avoid anti-phase domains. The quality of the GaAs film is found to strongly depend on the GaAs/Ge interface and the beginning of GaAs deposition. The reason why both high temperature annealing and GaAs growth temperature can affect epitaxial GaAs film quality is discussed. High quality In_0.17Ga_0.83As/GaAs strained quantum wells have also been achieved on a Ge substrate. Samples show flat surface morphology and narrow photoluminescence line width compared with the same structure sample grown on a GaAs substrate. These results indicate a large application potential for III--V compound semiconductor optoelectronic devices on Ge substrates.     

Studies on nucleation kinetics of In1−xGaxP/GaAs by Liquid-Phase Epitaxy

Summary Nucleation kinetics during the Liquid-Phase Epitaxial (LPE) growth of In_1−xGa_xP on GaAs substrate have been studied. The behaviour of non-equilibrium solid-liquid interface between In-Ga-P solution and GaAs substrate has been analysed and hence the expression derived for the stress-induced supercooling has been incorporated in the classical heterogeneous nucleation theory. The condition for the growth of good-quality GaInP layer on GaAs substrate has been shown theoretically.     

Photoreflectance spectroscopy of semiconductor structures at hydrostatic pressure: A comparison of GaInAs/GaAs and GaInNAs/GaAs single quantum wells

The pressure dependence of optical transitions in Ga_0.64In_0.36As/GaAs and Ga_0.64In_0.36N_0.01As_0.99/GaAs single quantum well (SQW) structures were studied in photoreflectance (PR) spectroscopy. In order to apply high hydrostatic pressure, up to ∼11 kbar, the liquid-filled clamp-pressure cell with a sapphire window for optical access has been adopted in the PR set-up with the so called ‘bright configuration’. It has been found that the linear hydrostatic pressure coefficient for the ground state transition are equal to 8.6 and 7.3 meV/kbar for the GaInAs/GaAs and GaInNAs/GaAs SQWs, respectively. This result shows that the incorporation of only 1% of N atoms into GaInAs/GaAs leads to ∼15% decrease in the pressure coefficient. In addition, a non-linearity in the pressure dependence of the ground state transition has been resolved for the GaInNAs/GaAs SQW.     

Etching temperature dependence of optical properties of the electrochemically etched n-GaAs

The GaAs granular films have been prepared by electrochemical anodic etching of n-GaAs in HCl electrolyte at different etching temperatures. The microstructure and optical properties of the films were investigated by micro-Raman spectrum, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Raman spectra reveal marked redshift and broadening, which could be explained by phonon confinement model. Results show the GaAs nanocrystalline films have formed during the anodic etching process under certain chemical conditions. Two “infrared” PL bands at ∼860 nm and ∼920 nm and a strongly enhanced visible PL band envelope around 550 nm were observed in the film prepared at etching temperature of 50 °C. The “green” PL band envelope is attributed to both quantum confinement in GaAs nanocrystals and PL of Ga₂O₃ and As₂O₃. The results reveal that the energy band structure of GaAs granular films is closely related to the etching temperatures. PACS 81.07.Bc; 78.30.Fs; 78.55.Cr     

Influence of the cap layer thickness on photoluminescence properties in strained InGaAs/GaAs single quantum wells

The influence of the GaAs cap layer thickness on the luminescence properties in strained In_0.20Ga_0.80As/GaAs single quantum well (SQW) structures has been investigated using temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The luminescence peak is shifted to lower energy as the GaAs cap layer thickness decreases, which demonstrates the effect of the GaAs cap layer thickness on the strain of InGaAs/GaAs single quantum wells (SQW). We find the PL quenching mechanism is the thermal activation of electron hole pairs from the wells into the GaAs cap layer for the samples with thicker GaAs cap layer, while in sample with thinner GaAs cap layer exciton trapping on misfit dislocations is dominated.     

Atomistic mechanisms of dopant-induced multiple quantum well mixing and related phenomena

We discuss mechanisms of Ga self-diffusion and impurity diffusion in GaAs, and of layer mixing enhancement in GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum wells (MQWs). Ga self-diffusion and Ga-Al interdiffusion are governed by the triply negatively charged Ga vacancies, V _Ga ^3– , under intrinsic and n-doping conditions, and by doubly positively charged Ga self-interstitials, I _Ga ²⁺ , under heavy p-doping conditions. The mechanisms responsible for enhancing MQW mixing are the Fermi-level effect for the n-dopants Si and Te, and the combined effects of the Fermi-level and the dopant diffusion-induced nonequilibrium point defects for the p-dopants Zn and Be. For n-type GaAs the donor Si atoms diffuse primarily also via V _Ga ^3– . For p-type GaAs the interstitial-substitutional impurities Zn and Be diffuse via the kickout mechanism and induce a supersaturation and an undersaturation in the concentrations of I _Ga ²⁺ , respectively, under indiffusion and outdiffusion conditions.     

Short pulse passively Q-switched Nd:GdYVO4 laser using a GaAs mirror

We report on a diode pumped passively Q-switched Nd:Gd_0.64Y_0.36VO₄ laser with a Cr⁴⁺:YAG saturable absorber. We show experimentally that by using an appropriately coated GaAs wafer as output coupler, the Q-switched pulse width can be significantly suppressed. Stable Q-switched pulse train with pulse width of 2.2 ns, peak power of 26.3 kW, repetition rate of 15.38 kHz have been obtained under an absorbed pump power of 8.54 W. The physical mechanism of pulse width narrowing by the GaAs wafer was also experimentally investigated.     

1MeV Si+衬底加温注入Al0.3Ga0.7As/GaAs超晶格和GaAs的晶格损伤研究

用卢瑟福背散射／沟道技术研究了１ＭｅＶＳｉ⁺在衬底加温和室温下以不同剂量注入Ａｌ_0.3Ｇ_0.7Ａｓ／ＧａＡｓ超晶格和ＧａＡｓ后的晶格损伤。在衬底加温下，观察到Ａｌ_0.3Ｇａ_0.7Ａｓ／ＧａＡｓ超晶格和ＧａＡｓ都存在一个动态退火速率与缺陷产生速率相平衡的剂量范围，以及两种速率失去平衡的临界剂量。超晶格比ＧａＡｓ更难以损伤，并且它的两种速率失去平衡的临界剂量也大于ＧａＡｓ中的相应临界剂量，用热尖峰与碰撞模型解释了晶格损伤积累与注入剂量和衬底温度的关系。用ＣＮＤＯ／２量子化学方法计算了ＧａＡｓ和Ａｌ_xＧａ_1-xＡｓ中化学键的相对强度，并根据计算结果解释了注入过程中Ａｌ_0.3Ｇａ_0.7Ａｓ／ＧａＡｓ超晶格和ＧａＡｓ中晶格损伤程度的差别。 关键词：     

Morphology and optical properties of p-type porous GaAs(1 0 0) layers made by electrochemical etching

Porous GaAs layers were formed by electrochemical etching of p-type GaAs(1 0 0) substrates in HF solution. A surface characterization has been performed on p-type GaAs samples using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) technique in order to get information about the chemical composition, particularly on the surface contamination. According to the XPS spectra, the oxide layer on as-received porous GaAs substrates contains As₂O₃, As₂O₅ and Ga₂O₃. Large amount of oxygen is present at the surface before the surface cleaning.Compared to untreated GaAs surface, room temperature photoluminescence (PL) investigations of the porous layers reveal the presence of two PL bands: a PL peak at ∼871 nm and a “visible” PL peak at ∼650-680 nm. Both peak wavelengths and intensities varied from sample to sample depending on the treatment that the samples have undergone. The short PL wavelength at 650-680 nm of the porous layers is attributed to quantum confinement effects in GaAs nano-crystallites. The surface morphology of porous GaAs has been studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Nano-sized crystallites were observed on the porous GaAs surface. An estimation of the mean size of the GaAs nano-crystals obtained from effective mass theory and based on PL data was close to the lowest value obtained from the AFM results.     

高组份Al值的AlxGa1-x As和AlxGa1-x As/GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs/GaAs多层结构的MOCVD生长

用自制常压MOCVD系统,在半绝缘GaAs衬底上生长高Al组份Al_xGa_1-xAs（其x值达0.83）,和Al_xGa_1-xAs/GaAs/Al_xGa_1-xAs/GaAs多层结构,表面镜面光亮。生长层厚度从几十到十几μm可控,测试表明外延层晶格结构完整,x值调节范围宽,非有意掺杂低,高纯GaAs外延层载流子浓度n_300K=1.7×10¹⁵cm^-3,n_77K=1.4×10¹⁵cm^-3,迁移率μ_300K=5900cmcm²/V.S,μ_77K=55500cm²/V.S。用电子探针,俄歇能谱仪测不出非有意掺杂的杂质,各层间界面清晰平直。 对GaAs,AlGaAs生长层表面缺陷,衬底偏角生长温度及其它生长条件也进行了初步探讨。     

Dependence of second harmonic generation efficiency on the density of the optical mode

The results of numerical simulations of second harmonic generation in photonic band gap structures with GaAs/AlAs and SiO₂/GaAs quarter-wave layers under the action of a femtosecond pulse pump are presented. The transmission and reflection coefficients and the density of the optical modes for these photonic band gaps were calculated.     

Contactless electroreflectance spectroscopy of Ga(In)NAs/GaAs quantum well structures containing Sb atoms

Contactless electroreflectance (CER) spectroscopy has been applied to investigate the optical transitions in Ga(In)NAs/GaAs quantum well (QW) structures containing Sb atoms. The identification of the optical transitions has been carried out in accordance with theoretical calculations which have been performed within the framework of the effective mass approximation. Using this method, the bandgap discontinuity for GaN_0.027As_0.863Sb_0.11/GaAs, Ga_0.62In_0.38As_0.954N_0.026Sb_0.02/GaAs, and Ga_0.61In_0.39As_0.963N_0.017Sb_0.02/GaN_0.027As_0.973/GaAs QW structures has been determined. It has been found that the conduction-band offset is ∼50 and ∼80% for GaN_0.027As_0.863Sb_0.11/GaAs and Ga_0.62In_0.38As_0.954N_0.026Sb_0.02/GaAs QWs, respectively. It corresponds to 264 and 296 meV depth QW for electrons and heavy-holes in GaN_0.027As_0.863Sb_0.11/GaAs QW; and 520 and 146 meV depth QW for electrons and heavy-holes in Ga_0.62In_0.38As_0.954N_0.026Sb_0.02/GaAs QW. In the case of the Ga_0.61In_0.39As_0.963N_0.017Sb_0.02/GaN_0.027As_0.973/GaAs step-like QW structure it has been shown that the depth of electron and heavy-hole Ga_0.61In_0.39As_0.963N_0.017Sb_0.02/GaN_0.027As_0.973 QW is ∼144 and ∼127 meV, respectively.     

Photo production of surface recombination centers in gallium arsenide

The near band edge photoluminescence (–870 nm) at 300 K of semi-insulating and p-type GaAs, a potentially useful tool for GaAs wafer mapping, decreases with time under illumination from the 514 nm line of an Ar⁺ laser. The photoluminescence bleaching has been studied by optical and photo Hall-effect techniques. It recovers only partially on a time scale of days and does not show a distinct intensity threshold behavior. From lifetime measurements and experiments on samples covered with epitaxial layers of GaAs _x P_1–x or Si₃N₄ it is concluded that creation of surface recombination centers causes the PL bleaching.     

Magnetic properties of GaAs/δ〈Mn〉/GaAs/In x Ga1 − x As/GaAs quantum wells

The field and temperature dependences of the magnetization of GaAs/δ〈Mn〉/GaAs/In _x Ga_{1 ? x} As/GaAs quantum wells with the δ〈Mn〉 layer separated from the well by a 3-nm GaAs spacer have been studied in the temperature range of 3–300 K in a magnetic field up to 6 T. An external magnetic-field-induced phase transition to a ferromagnetic state with a magnetization hysteresis loop shifted from a zero magnetic field has been found to occur at a temperature below 40 K. A theoretical model is proposed that implies the coexistence of ferromagnetically and antiferromagnetically ordered regions within the GaAs layers.