Magneto-transport of InAs-quantum wells using InP0.69Sb0.31as a barrier material

InAs/InP_0.69Sb_0.31quantum-well structures grown by metal organic vapor-phase epitaxy are studied by temperature-dependent Hall measurements and by quantum Hall and Shubnikov de Haas effect measurements. At temperatures below 0.3 K a two-dimensional electron gas without a conductive by-pass was demonstrated. For a two-dimensional electron gas with a sheet electron concentration of 2.2 × 10¹²cm⁻²mobilities as high as 118 000 cm²(Vs)⁻¹were observed. In contrast to samples doped on both sides of the quantum well, a beating pattern in the longitudinal resistance was observed for samples which were doped on only one side. This effect is explained by spin–orbit coupling of the electrons in the quantum well which leads to a separation in two spin-splitted subbands. A spin-split energy in the range from 6.9 meV to 8.4 meV was extracted from the Shubnikov de Haas measurements.     

Light hole transport in a strained GaAs/In0.18Ga0.82As quantum well at high pressures

Abstract

Here we report what we believe to be the first observation of the pressure dependence of the light hole behavior in a modulation doped In_0.18Ga_0.82As/GaAs single strained quantum well grown by MBE. Transport measurements have been undertaken as a function of temperature (4–300K) and hydrostatic pressure (4–8kbar). Hole mobilities of ～17000 cm²/Vs have been obtained for sheet carrier densities of ～3.3×10¹¹ cm^?2. At low temperatures (<100K) persistent photogenerated holes have been observed. The hole mobility is found to decrease with increasing pressure at a rate intermediate between that typically observed for holes and electrons in bulk III-V semiconductors.     

Optical and transport properties of δ-doped pseudomorphic AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs structures

We investigate the effects of spacer layer thickness on the optical and transport properties of the n-type-doped pseudomorphic Al_0.30Ga_0.70As/In_0.15Ga_0.85As / GaAs structures. A-doped AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs structure with a 6nm spacer layer yields a sheet carrier concentration of 1.5×10¹² cm^–2 at 77K with electron mobility of 6.4×10³ cm²/Vs, 3.11×10⁴ cm²/Vs, and 3.45×10⁴ cm²/Vs at room temperature, 77 and 20K, respectively. The effects of the different scattering mechanisms on luminescence linewidth and electron mobility have also been discussed.     

Luminescence of rare gas crystals at high excitation densities for VUV laser applications

Exciton densities of the order of 10¹⁸ cm^–3 are generated in 0.1–0.3 mm thick surface layers in an area of 10×20 mm² of optically clear rare gas crystals. The quantum efficiencies at 126 nm (Ar), 145 nm (Kr), and 172 nm (Xe) remain near 0.5 even for the highest excitation densities. The corresponding gain coefficients of 2.6 cm^–1 (Ar) to 18 cm^–1 (Xe) exceed those of high pressure gas lasers by a factor of 20. Stimulated emission is inferred by observing the line narrowing, the dependence of intensities and time courses on excitation density and amplification measurements. The net gain coefficient is reduced however to 0.5–1 cm^–1 by transient absorption of excited centers and scattering by irradiation induced defects. The results are analysed by a system of rate equations for the excitation, relaxation, quenching, and amplification processes. A peculiar temperature dependence of the quantum efficiencies and time courses is attributed to electron trapping at grain boundaries.     

Threshold and saturation properties of a solid-state XeF (C-A) excimer laser

A dielectric laser cavity of 1 cm length has been optimized for high gain (7 cm^–1) operation which is achieved in XeF doped Ar crystals. Mode structures on the C-A spectral distribution around 540 nm and far field transverse mode patterns are reported. Photchemical gain burning is observed in the spectral mode structures. The dependence of the laser threshold on pump energy, pumped length and on cavity losses is studied. XeF densities of 7×10¹⁷ cm^–3 and distributed losses of 1.2 cm^–1 are derived. The measured quantum efficiency of 14% and the saturation behaviour are consistently described. Losses by transient aborption and two photon absorption are discussed.     

Gated spin relaxation in (1 1 0)-oriented quantum wells

Growth, photoluminescence characterisation and time-resolved optical measurements of electron spin dynamics in (1 1 0)-oriented GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells are described. Conditions are given for MBE growth of good-quality quantum wells, judged by the width of low-temperature excitonic photoluminescence. At 170 K the electron spin relaxation rate in (1 1 0)-oriented wells shows a 100-fold reduction compared to equivalent (1 0 0)-oriented wells and also a 10-fold increase with applied electric field from 20 to 80 kV cm⁻¹. There is evidence for similar dramatic effects at 300 K. Spin relaxation is field independent below 20 kV cm⁻¹ reflecting quantum well asymmetry. The results indicate the achievability of voltage-gateable quantum well spin memory time longer than 10 ns at room temperature simultaneously with high electron mobility.     

Electron spectrum of δ-doped quantum wells by the Thomas-Fermi method at finite temperatures

The electron spectrum of δ-doped quantum wells in n-GaAs is investigated by means of the Thomas-Fermi (TF) method at finite temperatures. This method shows rapid convergence and good accuracy. Under two-dimensional (2D) doping concentrations 10¹³…2×10¹³ cm⁻², the simplest TF method (T=0 K) can be used to calculate the profiles of the potential well up to T≈200 K. The simplest TF method yields correct results for the electron concentrations and the differences of the electron energy sublevels in the quantum well up to room temperature (T∼300 K).     

Effect of electron irradiation on the properties of germanium-doped gallium arsenide

The Hall effect, electrical conductivity (77–370 K), and photoluminescence spectra (77 K) are studied in single-crystals of nuclearly doped GaAs (NDG) and GaAs doped with Ge by the metallurgical method after irradiation by electrons (E= 1 MeV, D=1.1·10¹⁵–3.8·10¹⁸ cm^–2). Initial electron concentrations were n= 1.7·10¹⁷ cm^–3 and n₀=2.6·10¹⁷ cm^–3 respectively. In the GaAs doped during crystal growth by the Czochralski method the degree of compensation related to the amphoteric impurity Ge is higher (K=0.8) than in the NDG (K=0.4) for identical initial electron concentration. It was established that the rate of charge carrier removal in GaAs is lower than in NDG, while radiation defects are more thermostable in NDG. The energy spectrum of radiation defects and radiating recombination centers, and the basic steps in reestablishment of electrophysical and optical properties in GaAs and NDG are similar, i.e., they do not depend on the method of germanium doping.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 4, pp. 82–86, April, 1991.     

The 6.1 Å family (InAs, GaSb, AlSb) and its heterostructures: a selective review

The three semiconductors InAs, GaSb, and AlSb form an approximately lattice-matched set around 6.1 Å, covering a wide range of energy gaps and other properties. Of particular interest are heterostructures combining InAs with one or both of the antimonides, and they are emphasized in this review. In addition to their use in conventional device types (FETs, RTDs, etc.), several heterostructure configurations with unique properties have been explored, especially InAs/AlSb quantum wells and InAs/GaSb superlattices.InAs/AlSb quantum wells are an ideal medium to study the low-temperature transport properties in InAs itself. With gate-induced electron sheet concentrations on the order 10¹² cm⁻², they exhibit a pronounced conductivity quantization. The very deep wells (1.35 eV) provide excellent electron confinement, and also permit modulation doping up to at least 10¹³ electrons cm⁻². Because of the very low effective mass in InAs, heavily doped wells are essentially metals, with Fermi energies around 200 meV, and Fermi velocities exceeding 10⁸ cm s⁻¹. Contacted with superconducting electrodes, such structures can act as superconductive weak links.InAs/GaSb-related superlattices with their broken-gap lineup behave like semimetals at large lattice periods, but if the lattice period is shortened, increasing quantization effects cause a transition to a narrow-gap semiconductor, making such structures of interest for infrared detectors, often combined with the deliberate addition of strain.     

Ultrafast dynamics of intersubband relaxation in GaAs quantum wells: hot carrier and phonon populations effects

The dynamics of intersubband relaxation in GaAs quantum wells and the role of hot carriers and the phonon distributions have been investigated using two different optical techniques with femtosecond resolution: 1) time-resolved photoluminescence and 2) pump and probe experiments. The (2→1) intersubband relaxation times have been measured as functions of well widths (100Å < L_well < 220Å), under different experimental conditions (15K < T_lattice < 300K, and 1×10¹⁰ cm^-2 < excitation densities < 1×10¹² cm^-2). The electron intersubband relaxation time is deduced from the decay time of the n=2 well luminescence (or differential transmission) intensity. For thin wells (<150Å), a fast intersubband (2→1) relaxation time ≤ 3 ps has been measured. For thicker wells, the measured decay times are found to be critically dependent on the excitation conditions (vary from 5 ps to 40 ps). The well width dependence of the intersubband relaxation time does not show the strong dependence (2 orders of magnitude) predicted theoretically for electron-LO phonon scattering. Our results show that the hot phonon populations and the slow carrier cooling rate limit the observation of subpicosecond relaxation time. For thick well widths, our results also suggest that hot carriers effects play an important role in the intersubband relaxation mechanisms.     

Magneto-optical studies of GainAsInP quantum wells

The optical properties of GainAsInP quantum wells are studied in magnetic fields of up to 16T. A comparison of the absorption and photoluminescence spectra of a series of multiple quantum wells provides evidence that the photoluminescence occurs from excitons in which the hole is localised. This localisation is shown to be present in a highly doped sample with a sheet carrier density of ∼10¹² cm⁻², indicating that the localisation is not screened out by high free carrier densities. A theoretical fit to measured Landau level transitions in a 100Å multiple quantum well allows values for the carrier masses, electron non-parabolicity and exciton binding energy to be determined.     

Investigation of delta-doped quantum wells for power FET applications

We report the use of strain-balanced quantum-well structures to generate high carrier density, high mobility layers suitable for power field effect transistor (FET) applications. Standard designs of modulation-doped heterojunctions have a sheet carrier density limited to a maximum of ∼3 ×  10¹²cm⁻², while doped channel devices allow higher densities, but with degraded mobility. By combining the technique of delta-doping with the use of a compositionally graded InGaAs quantum well, grown strain balanced on InP, high mobilities and excellent saturation drift velocities have been obtained for sheet densities of 4–5 ×  10¹²cm⁻². This paper describes the structure and electrical properties of the layers and assesses their potential for FETs.     

Estimation of various scattering parameters and 2-DEG mobilities from electron mobility calculations in the three conduction bands Γ, L and X of gallium arsenide

The electron drift mobility in Γ conduction band of GaAs has been calculated before, but for the first time, we have made attempts to estimate the electron mobilities in higher energy L and X minima. We have also calculated the value of mobility of two-dimensional electron gas needed to predict hetero-structure device characteristics using GaAs. Best scattering parameters have been derived by close comparison between experimental and theoretical mobilities. Room temperature electron mobilities in Γ, L and X valleys are found to be nearly 9094, 945 and 247 cm²/V-s respectively. For the above valleys, the electron masses, deformation potentials and polar phonon temperatures have been determined to be (0.067, 0.22, 0.39m ₀), (8.5, 9.5, 6.5 eV), and (416, 382, 542 K) as best values, respectively. The 2-DEG electron mobility in Γ minimum increases to 1.54 × 10⁶ from 1.59 × 10⁵ cm²/V-s (for impurity concentration of 10¹⁴ cm⁻³) at 10 K. Similarly, the 2-DEG electron mobility values in L and X minima are estimated to be 2.28 × 10⁵ and 1.44 × 10⁵ cm²/V-s at 10 K, which are about ∼4.5 and ∼3.9 times higher than normal value with impurity scattering present.      

A pulsed laser employing Ar+ ions at high currents and low pressures

There are several papers [1–5] on pulsed Ar⁺ lasers, but all the tests have been done at low current densities (100 A/cm²). We have used densities up to 15–20 kA/cm², the best pressure range being 8×10^–3 to 2×10^–2 mm Hg. The generation under these conditions has some features not seen under ordinary conditions.     

Anisotropic multicomponent terahertz photoconductivity in quantum Hall systems

The decay times of the terahertz photoconductivity signal are studied for samples in the quantum Hall regime. The photoconductivity signal has both the longitudinal components caused by the photoinduced change in the longitudinal resistance and the transverse components due to the photoinduced transverse current. The signal kinetics are qualitatively different for samples with relatively low (500 000 cm²/Vs and lower) and relatively high (900 000 cm²/Vs and higher) charge-carrier mobilities.     

MOS transistors with epitaxial Si,laterally grown over SiO2 by liquid phase epitaxy

We describe the first MOS transistors fabricated in silicon-on-insulator layers, obtained by liquid phase epitaxial lateral overgrowth of Si over SiO₂. Growth is performed around 930°–920° C using indium as a solvent. The layers are therefore p-type and have a doping of 4·10¹⁶ cm^–3. Electron mobilities of 540 cm²/Vs are obtained in the inversion channel; the threshold voltage of transistors with a gate length of 14.1 m is 510 mV. Our data demonstrate the applicability of liquid-phase epitaxial Si grown over oxidized Si for future use in three-dimensional integrated-device processing.     

Low temperature subband 2D electron mobilities in heavy delta- and modulation doped GaAs/GaAlAs heterostructures

We synthesised high-2D electron-density GaGs/GaAlAs heterostructures with different distance L_σ of Si delta-layer in GaAs from the heterojunction and uniform doped GaAlAs. The quantum Hall effect and Shubnikov-de Haas effect were measured for temperatures down to 0.4 K in magnetic fields up to 40 T. The enhanced 2D electron concentration achieved was 1.1^*10¹³ cm^?2 in six filled subbands. The Hall mobility depends on L_σ and has maximum for L_σ=600÷750Å. From the amplitudes of the SdH oscillations and Fourier transforms the subband mobilities and electron concentration in each subband have been extracted. According to calculations intersubband electron scattering appears to be important and reduces mobilities in subbands.     

Effect of interparticle interactions on radiative lifetime of photoexcited electron-hole system in GaAs quantum wells

The paper reports on an investigation of changes in the photoluminescence linewidth and lifetime of excitons and electron-hole plasma over a wide range of densities between 3×10⁷ and 3×10¹² cm⁻² at a temperature of 77 K in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells. The roles played by thermal ionization of excitons at low densities of nonequilibrium carriers, exciton-exciton and exciton-electron collisions, and ionization of excitons at high pumping power densities have been studied. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 112, 353–361 (July 1997)     

Irradiation-induced atomic defects in SiC studied by positron annihilation

The present paper reports on positron lifetime measurements on atomic defects in SiC after low-temperature (80 K) electron irradiation of low (0.47 MeV) and high (2.5 MeV) electron energies and doses from 1.8×10¹⁷ to 1.9×10¹⁹ e/cm² as well as after subsequent isochronal annealing up to 1900 K. For these studies the single crystals of nitrogen doped (2–3×10¹⁸ cm^–3) SiC grown by a modified Lely technique with hexagonal structure (6H polytype) were used.According to the positron lifetime measurements, very different types of vacancy-like positron traps are introducted after irradiation with electrons of either low or high energy. The formation of defect agglomerates and their decay at high temperatures is studied during isochronal annealing and related to earlier studies.Paper presented at the 132nd WE-Heraeus-Seminar on Positron Studies of Semiconductor Defects, Halle, Germany, 29 August to 2 September 1994     

Optical emission diagnostics of laser-induced plasma for diamond-like film deposition

Optical emission from a laser-induced plasma plume is recorded during KrF excimer laser ablation of graphite in a gas mixture of Ar and H₂ (3%) for deposition of diamond-like thin films. At sub-GW/cm² laser intensities the spectrum is dominated by the bands of C₂ and CN. From the band intensities, the vibrational temperatures of both radicals are calculated to be 12–15×10³ K, and their concentrations are estimated to be 5×10¹⁴ cm^–3 and 2×10¹⁴ cm^–3, respectively.