The g–r noise in quantum well semiconductor lasers and its relation with device reliability

The g–r noise in quantum well semiconductor lasers is studied theoretically and experimentally. The results indicate that the g–r noise is dependent on bias current, the devices show the g–r a noise only at low bias current, with the bias current increasing, the g–r noise will disappear. The g–r noise has a close relation with defects; the devices with g–r noise degrade rapidly during the electric aging. It is means that measuring the noise at low bias current is very important for estimating device reliability.     

Fine structure splitting and biexciton binding energy in single self-assembled InAs/AlAs quantum dots

We report on photoluminescence investigations of individual InAs quantum dots embedded in an AlAs matrix which emit in the visible region, in contrast to the more traditional InAs/GaAs system. Biexciton binding energies, considerably larger than for InAs/GaAs dots, up to 9 meV are observed. The biexciton binding energy decreases with decreasing dot size, reflecting a possible crossover to an antibinding regime. Exciton and biexciton emission consists of linearly cross polarized doublets due to a large fine structure splitting up to 0.3 meV of the bright exciton state. With increasing exciton transition energy the fine structure splitting decreases down to zero at about 1.63 eV. Differences with InAs/GaAs QDs may be attributed to major dot shape anisotropy and/or larger confinement due to higher AlAs barriers.     

Magnetooptical investigations of single self assembled In0.3Ga0.7As quantum dots

We present results from magnetooptical investigations of large elongated single self assembled In_0.3Ga_0.7As quantum dots with a low surface density of . Compared to conventional In_0.6Ga_0.4As quantum dots the dimension of the investigated dots is enlarged by nearly one order of magnitude using a low strain In_0.3Ga_0.7As nucleation layer. In addition, the exciton exhibits a smaller g-factor of 0–0.4 and a larger diamagnetic coefficient of 20– in Faraday geometry, reflecting the increased extension of the exciton wavefunction, with respect to In_0.6Ga_0.4As quantum dots. From power dependent investigations we observe biexciton binding energies ranging from 1.7 to 1.9 meV. Excited state emission appears typically 2–5 meV above the ground state which is consistent with the increased dimensions of the structure. Furthermore we find linear polarization degrees of up to 0.6 from exciton emission of the elongated quantum dot structure.     

Comparison of the band alignment of strained and strain-compensated GaInNAs QWs on GaAs and InP substrates

We present a comparison of the band alignment of the Ga_1−xIn_xN_yAs_1−y active layers on GaAs and InP substrates in the case of conventionally strained and strain-compensated quantum wells. Our calculated results present that the band alignment of the tensile-strained Ga_1−xIn_xN_yAs_1−y quantum wells on InP substrates is better than than that of the compressively strained Ga_1−xIn_xN_yAs_1−y quantum wells on GaAs substrates and both substrates provide deeper conduction wells. Therefore, tensile-strained Ga_1−xIn_xN_yAs_1−y quantum wells with In concentrations of x0.53 on InP substrates can be used safely from the band alignment point of view when TM polarisation is required. Our calculated results also confirm that strain compensation can be used to balance the strain in the well material and it improves especially the band alignment of dilute nitride Ga_1−xIn_xN_yAs_1−y active layers on GaAs substrates. Our calculations enlighten the intrinsic superiority of N-based lasers and offer the conventionally strained and strain-compensated Ga_1−xIn_xN_yAs_1−y laser system on GaAs and InP substrates as ideal candidates for high temperature operation.     

Mid-infrared lasing from self-consistent quantum wells at a type II single broken-gap heterointerface

A new physical approach for the design of mid-IR lasers operating at 3–5 μm based on type II heterojunctions with effective electron–hole confinement owing to a large asymmetric band-offset at the interface (ΔE_C>0.6 eV and ΔE_V>0.35 eV) has been proposed. The creation of high barriers for carriers leads to their strong accumulation in the active region and increases the quantum emission efficiency of the spatially separated electrons and holes across the heteroboundary due to a tunnel-injection radiative recombination mechanism within the device. An extremely weak reduction of the electroluminescence (EL) intensity for the interface tunnelling-assisted emission band with increasing temperature from 77 to 300 K was observed. This coherent emission (λ=3.146 μm at 77 K) was totally polarised in the plane perpendicular to the p–n heterojunction plane, which means the laser emission was TM-polarised due to tunnelling-assisted light-hole–electron recombination across the interface.     

Ultrafast carrier dynamics of resonantly excited InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots

We study theoretically the time development of electronic relaxation in quantum dots. We consider the process of relaxation of the state with an electron prepared at the beginning of relaxation in the electronic ground state. We obtain a fast (in picoseconds) increase of electronic population in the excited state. Also, we consider the process of relaxation of an electron from an excited state in the dot. Here we obtain an incomplete depopulation of the electron from the excited state. We compare these results to experiments in which a fast decrease of luminescence is reported during the first period of relaxation after resonant excitation of the ground state. We estimate numerically the role of electron–LO–phonon (Fröhlich's coupling) mechanism in these processes. We show that this effect may be attributed to the influence of multiple scattering of quantum dot electrons on LO phonons. A single-electron two-energy-level quantum dot model is used to demonstrate this effect in an isolated semiconductor quantum dot.     

Pump–probe analysis of polaron decay in InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots

We report on polaron decay in InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots. The polarons are probed by pump–probe spectroscopy through their optical intersublevel absorption around 62 meV (20 μm wavelength). A T₁ polaron lifetime of the order of tens of picosecond is deduced from the low-temperature pump–probe measurements. We show that a long-lived component can be additionally observed on the pump–probe measurements. The spectral dependence of this long-lived component is, however, not correlated to the polaron absorption. It is thus not a signature of polaron relaxation quenching. The origin of this long-lived component is attributed to the two-phonon absorption of the bulk GaAs substrate.     

Formation of InAs quantum dots and wetting layers in GaAs and AlAs analyzed by cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy

We have used cross-sectional scanning-tunneling microscopy (X-STM) to compare the formation of self-assembled InAs quantum dots (QDs) and wetting layers on AlAs (1 0 0) and GaAs (1 0 0) surfaces. On AlAs we find a larger QD density and smaller QD size than for QDs grown on GaAs under the same growth conditions (500 °C substrate temperature and 1.9 ML indium deposition). The QDs grown on GaAs show both a normal and a lateral gradient in the indium distribution whereas the QDs grown on AlAs show only a normal gradient. The wetting layers on GaAs and AlAs do not show significant differences in their composition profiles. We suggest that the segregation of the wetting layer is mainly strain-driven, whereas the formation of the QDs is also determined by growth kinetics. We have determined the indium composition of the QDs by fitting it to the measured outward relaxation and lattice constant profile of the cleaved surface using a three-dimensional finite element calculation based on elasticity theory.     

Bound polaron in a wurtzite GaN/AlxGa1 − xN ellipsoidal finite-potential quantum dot

A variational method is used to study the ground state of a bound polaron in a weakly oblate wurtzite GaN/Al_xGa_1 − xN ellipsoidal quantum dot. The binding energy of the bound polaron is calculated by taking the electron couples with both branches of LO-like and TO-like phonons due to the anisotropic effect into account. The interaction between impurity and phonons has also been considered to obtain the binding energy of a bound polaron. The results show that the binding energy of bound polaron reaches a peak value as the quantum dot radius increases and then diminishes for the finite potential well. We found that the binding energy of bound polaron is reduced by the phonons effect on the impurity states, the contribution of LO-like phonon to the binding energy is dominant, the anisotropic angle and ellipticity influence on the binding energy are small.     

Change in band configuration of quantum wells from type-II to type-I by increasing Sb composition x

InGaAs/AlAsSb systems lattice matched to InP have two distinguishable features: a high conduction band offset and type-II band configuration. Although, the former results in a large intersubband transition (ISBT) at conduction band, the latter makes it difficult to use the effective interband transition (IBT). To overcome this latter problem, the effect of the Sb was investigated because Sb would act as a band modulator from type-II to type-I. In_0.57Ga_0.43As_1-xSb_x/AlAs_0.48Sb_0.52 single quantum well (SQW) samples with various Sb compositions x, were grown on GaAs substrates via AlAs_0.48Sb_0.52 buffer layer. Their photoluminescence (PL) properties were examined to identify their band configurations. When the excitation laser power was increased, the PL property of In_0.57Ga_0.43As SQW sample, showed a larger blue shift than that of ones. This indicates that the band configuration modulates from type-II to type-I when the antimonide composition is larger than 0.13. These findings indicate that new functional devices can be fabricated using a combination of IBT and ISBT.     

Reliable high-efficiency high-brightness laser diode bars at 940 nm

High-quality InGaAs/AlGaAs laser diode bars emitting at 940 nm have been fabricated by low-pressure metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (LP-MOCVD). Two hundred and ten Watts maximum continuous-wave output power and a maximum power conversion efficiency of 60% at an output power of 72 W have been demonstrated for a single 1-cm-wide laser bar. These bars exhibit a very good beam quality of 5.7°×27.2° (full-width at half-maximum). Reliability test have been carried out for over 2000 h at 58 W at room temperature. Under these conditions, the extrapolated lifetime is 100,000 h, which suggests that AlGaAs-based lasers of proper designs could have similar long-term reliability as their Al-free counterpart.     

Metal–insulator transition in quantum dot arrays

We present evidence for a re-entrant metal–insulator transition that arises in quantum dot arrays as the gate voltage is used to sweep their density of states past the Fermi level. The form of the temperature variation of the conductance observed in these arrays can be accounted for using a functional form derived from studies of the metal–insulator transition in two dimensions, although the values obtained for the fit parameters suggest that the behavior we observe here may be quite distinct to that found in two dimensions.     

Influence of substrate misorientation and growth temperature on N incorporation in InGaAsN/GaAs quantum wells grown on (1 1 1)B GaAs

In this work, the effects of the substrate misorientation in the nitrogen incorporation in InGaAsN (1 1 1)B p–i–n diode structures grown by molecular beam epitaxy are discussed. The (1 1 1)B surfaces misoriented towards [2–1–1] are found to be more suitable to enhance the optical quality of the samples. We also found that the nitrogen incorporation is highly dependent on the growth temperature as well as on the V–III flux ratio. In addition to this, the optical properties and crystal quality of these structures depend strongly on the nitrogen content, as in the case of similar samples grown on (1 0 0) surfaces. High nitrogen contents (up to 3%) in InGaAsN layers grown on two different misoriented (1 1 1)B GaAs substrates are reported. Besides, low-temperature photoluminescence emission wavelengths longer than 1.4 μm are achieved using (1 1 1)B misoriented substrates.     

STEM-study of 1.3 μm InAs/InGaAs quantum dot structures

We investigated InAs-Dots-in-a-well structures emitting near 1.3 μm by bright field and Z-contrast mode in a scanning transmission electron microscope. The chemically sensitive Z-contrast mode is found to give direct information on the actual position of the InAs-Dots inside the embedding well, while the bright field mode monitors the strain fields. Comparing a series of structures, we found that the most symmetric design is realized by an nominally asymmetric growth. These symmetric structures exhibit the best performance with respect to photoluminescence spectra and laser threshold current density.     

Quantum coherence in quantum dot—Aharonov–Bohm ring hybrid systems

We investigate coherent transport through hybrid systems of quantum dots and Aharonov–Bohm (AB) rings. Strong coherence over the entire system leads to the Fano effect, which originates from the interference and the phase shift caused by the discrete states in the dots. The high controllability of the system parameters reveals that the Fano effect in mesoscopic transport can be a powerful tool for detecting the phase shift of electrons. We apply it to detect electrostatic phase modulation and the phase shift in a quantum wire with a side-coupled dot. Finally, we provide an experimental answer to the problem of “neighboring in-phase Coulomb peaks”.     

Influence of the quantum dot shape on the determination of the electronic structure and electron decoherence

Theoretical calculations of electron–phonon scattering rates in AlGaN/GaN quantum dots (QDs) have been performed by means of effective mass approximation in the frame of finite element method. The influence of a symmetry breaking of the carrier's wave function on the electron dephasing time is investigated for various QDs shapes. In a QD system the electron energy increases when the QD shape changes from a spherical to a non-spherical form. In addition, the influence of the QD shape upon the electronic structure can be modulated by external magnetic fields. We also show that the electron–acoustic phonon scattering rates strongly depend upon both the QD shape and the applied magnetic field. As an additional parameter, the QD shape can be used to modify the electron–acoustic phonon interaction in a wide range. Moreover, the scattering rate of different transitions, such as Δm=0(1), presents distinct magnetic field dependency.     

{1 1 1} Quantum wells of dilute nitrides grown on GaAs by molecular beam epitaxy

Dilute nitrides are promising alloys in view of extending potential micro- and opto-electronics applications of GaAs technology. Orientation effects on nitrogen incorporation in GaAs have been scarcely addressed. Here, GaAsN on (1 0 0) and on As(B)- and Ga(A)-rich (1 1 1) substrates was grown by molecular beam epitaxy at different substrate temperatures. Nitrogen content measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry as a function of the growth temperature highlights the influence of orientation on nitrogen incorporation. Furthermore, thermal annealing is shown to improve the optical quality of GaAsN quantum wells whatever their substrate orientations.     

Electron–hole complexes in self-assembled quantum dots in strong magnetic fields

We present results of calculations and experiments on electron–hole complexes in InGaAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots in high magnetic field (B). Due to hidden symmetries, the chemical potential of an N-exciton system at special B fields becomes insensitive to the exciton number as well as the magnetic field. This results in plateau regions of high intensity in measured magneto-PL spectrum. Theoretical calculations using exact diagonalization techniques successfully explain the measured magneto-photoluminescence spectrum with B fields up to 28 T.     

Realization of single and double axial InSb–GaSb heterostructure nanowires

Heteroepitaxial growth of III‐Sb nanowires allows for the formation of various interesting complex structures and enables the combination of their remarkable properties. In this Letter, we investigate the heteroepitaxial growth of Au‐seeded InSb and GaSb nanowires using metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. We demonstrate successful single and double axial InSb–GaSb heterostructures in both directions. The formation properties of the grown nanowires including the compositional change of the particle and the interface sharpness are further discussed. In addition, the decomposition of InSb and GaSb segments and their side facet evolution are explained.