Observation of spatially-indirect transition and accurate determination of band offset ratio by excitation spectroscopy on GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells lightly doped with Be accepters

We report on the observation of a spatially-indirect transition in the photoluminescence (PL) excitation spectra of Be-doped GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells (QWs). Using this spatially-indirect transition we determine the band offset ratio accurately. With Be accepters in the QW, free-to-bound and bound-exciton transitions show up in PL in addition to free-exciton transition. As we vary the excitation photon energy, we find a sharp intensity changeover between the free-to-bound and the excitonic transitions at a certain photon energy. A systematic investigation of this energy as a function of the well width shows that this feature corresponds to the onset of a spatially-indirect transition from the valence-band top of the barrier to the n = 1 conduction subband in the QW. Based on the fact that the energy of this barrier-to-well transition critically depends on the valence-band offset, we have determined the conduction-band offset ratio as Q_c = 0.62 with accuracy better than ΔQ_c = ±0.01.     

Arsenic-free GaAs substrate preparation and direct growth of GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well without buffer layer

High-temperature treatment of GaAs substrate without As flux in a preparation chamber was investigated as a substrate surface cleaning method for molecular beam epitaxial (MBE) growth. Oxide gases such as CO and CO₂ were almost completely desorbed at a temperature above which Ga and As started to evaporate from the substrate. During the cleaning at a temperature as high as 575°C for 30 min, about 100 nm thick GaAs was evaporated from the substrate, but its surface maintained mirror-like smoothness and showed streak pattern with surface reconstruction pattern in the reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) observation. Direct growth of GaAs/Al GaAs quantum well (QW) structures was tried on such surfaces without introducing any buffer layers. The QW structure showed photoluminescence with both intensity and full width at half maximum comparable with those for the QW grown on the substrate cleaned by the conventional method with introducing a GaAs buffer layer.     

Molecular beam epitaxy of GaSb/AlxGa1 − xSb quantum well structures

Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is used to grow GaSb/Al_xGa_{1 − x}Sb quantum well (QW) structures on GaSb(001) substrates using both Sb₂ and Sb₄ molecules. While the optoelectronic properties of thick GaSb epitaxial layers are significantly affected by the type of molecule used, no influence is noted on the QW photoluminescence properties. It is shown that MBE allows a very precise and reproducible control of the QW structure parameters such as QW widths for which monolayer precision is obtained. Through the variation of the QW associated PL energy as a function of the growth temperature, the occurrence of a surface segregation-like phenomenon is evidenced. However, this effect is rather weak so that a good estimation of the valence band offset through the PL energy variation with the QW width can be made. Moreover, the QW width for which the Γ-L crossover occurs is very precisely determined.     

Luminescence studies of defects and piezoelectric fields in InGaN/GaN single quantum wells

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), cathodoluminescence in the scanning electron microscope (SEM-CL) and photoluminescence (PL) studies were performed on a 30 nm GaN/2 nm In_0.28Ga _0.72N/2 μm GaN/(0 0 0 1) sapphire single quantum well (SQW) sample. SEM-CL was performed at low temperatures ≈8 K, and at an optimum accelerating voltage, around 4–6 kV to maximise the quantum well (QW) luminescence. The CL in the vicinity of characteristic “V-shaped” pits was investigated. The near band edge (BE) luminescence maps from the GaN showed bright rings inside the boundaries of the pits while the QW luminescence maps showed pits to be regions of low intensity. These observations are consistent with TEM observations showing the absence of QW material in the pits. Variations in both the BE and QW maps in the regions between the pits are ascribed to threading edge dislocations. The CL and PL QW luminescence was observed to blue-shift and broaden with increasing excitation intensity. This was accompanied by decreasing spatial resolution in the CL QW maps implying an increasing carrier diffusion length in the InGaN layer. The reasons for this behaviour are discussed. It is argued that screening of the piezoelectric field in the material may account for these observations.     

Characteristic of the photoconductivity of thallium monoselenide

Systematic investigations on thallium monoselenide single crystal photoconductivity were reported at 300 K as a function of excitation intensity, side illumination, and wavelength. The samples were prepared using Bridgman technique. The photoconductivity as a function of the modulation frequency of the incident light was plotted at different values of light intensity. The effect of light intensity on the photocarrier lifetime was studied. The relation between the photocurrent and applied voltage at different values of light intensity was represented graphically. Side illumination effect in all these relations was checked. The spectral distribution of the photoconductivity of TlSe in the spectral region 1.24 ev to 1.77 ev was measured, and the energy gap was evaluated. All results were discussed and analyzed. Studies for such samples are very important and necessary in order to understand their use as photoconductor.     

Characterization of exciton self-trapping in amorphous silica

Triplet electron–hole excitations were introduced into amorphous silica to study self-trapping (localization) and damage formation using density functional theory. Multiple self-trapped exciton (STE) states are found that can be differentiated based on the luminescence energy, the localization and distribution of the excess spin density of the triplet state, and relevant structural data, including the presence or absence of broken bonds. The trapping is shown to be affected by the relaxation response of the silica network, and by comparing results of quartz and amorphous silica systems the effects of the inherent disordered structures on exciton self-trapping are revealed. A key result is that the process of exciton trapping can lead directly to the formation of point defects, without thermal activation. The proposed mechanism includes a non-radiative decay from the excited to the ground state followed by structure relaxation to a defect configuration in the ground state.     

Effect of the AlGaN electron blocking layer thickness on the performance of AlGaN-based ultraviolet light-emitting diodes

The effect of the AlGaN electron blocking layer (EBL) thickness on the electrical and optical properties of 310 nm AlGaN single quantum well (SQW) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) has been investigated. A large ideality factor extracted from the current–voltage (I–V) characteristics indicates that a tunneling mechanism dominates the carrier transport process in the LEDs. The ideality factor decreases with increasing EBL thickness suggesting that deep-level state assisted tunneling is reduced. In addition, the QW emission intensity is enhanced with the introduction of an EBL due to the reduction of electron overflow to the p-type layer. The QW emission intensity is sensitive to the EBL thickness. This is attributed to the reduction of electron tunneling to the p-type layer with an EBL.     

Correlations between photoluminescence and Hall mobility in GaN/sapphire grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

We have investigated photoluminescence (PL) and electron Hall mobility for unintentionally doped GaN epitaxial layers grown by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on c-plane Al₂O₃ substrates. Four GaN films having identical dislocation density but remarkably different electron Hall mobility were exploited. At low temperature (12 K), a PL line associated with a bound exciton was observed and strong correlations were found between the Hall mobility and the PL intensity of the exciton transition. That is, relative PL intensity of the bound exciton to a donor-bound exciton monotonously increased with decreasing the electron mobility of the GaN films. This correlation was interpreted in terms of electrical compensation. Efforts to find the chemical origin of the PL line led to the conclusion that the BE line originated neither from threading dislocations nor from extrinsic point defects. Intrinsic acceptors such as Ga vacancy and GaN anti-site were suspected as plausible origin.     

The Absorption,Fluorescence and Phosphorescence and Phosphorescence of Single Crystals of 1,2,4,5-Tetrachlorobenzene and 1,4-Dichlorobenzene at Low Temperatures

Abstract

The emission spectra of ultra pure single crystals of 1, 2, 4, 5. tetrachlorobenzene (TCB) and 1, 4-dichlorobenzene (DCB) at temperatures from 4.2°K upwards are reported. In addition, by use of the phosphorescence excitation technique the singlet-triplet absorption spectrum at 4.2°K has been obtained.

The phosphorescence emission of TCB at 4.2°K occurs predominantly from a defect origin “X” situated 48 cm^?1 below the triplet exciton band. The triplet exciton energy level is at 26676 cm^?1 from both emission and absorption studies. This is the triplet emission origin when the crystal is above 12°K. The temperature dependence of the emission intensity from the defect has an activation energy of 40±8 cm^?1. This value is consistent with our suggestion of thermal depopulation of the traps.

Single crystals of DCB show strong excimer emission and weak triplet exciton emission. There is no evidence for trapping levels. The triplet exciton emission. There is no evidence for trapping levels. The triplet exciton origin is 27890 cm^?1 from both emission and absorption studies.

Weak fluorescence (φ < 10⁰²) is detected from both TCB and DCB.

Vibrational analyses are reported for the absorption, fluorescence and phosphorescence spectra.     

InxGa1−xAs/GaAs quantum wire structures grown on GaAs (100) patterned substrates with [001] ridges

In_xGa_1−xAs/GaAs (x = 0.12-0.23) quantum well (QW) structures were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on [001] ridges with various widths (1.1-12 μm) of patterned GaAs (100) substrate. The smallest lateral width of the InGaAs/GaAs quantum wire (QWR) structures was estimated to be about 0.1 μm by high-resolution scanning electron microscope (SEM). The In contents of the grown InGaAs/GaAs QWs on the ridges were studied as a function of ridge top width (ridge width of the MBE grown layer) by cathodoluminescence (CL) measurements at 78 K. Compared to the InGaAs QW grown on a flat substrate, the In content of the InGaAs/GaAs QW on the ridge increases from 0.22 to 0.23 when the ridge top width decreases to about 2.9 μm, but it decreases steeply from 0.23 down to 0.12 with a further decrease of the ridge width from 2.9 to 0.05 μm. A simulation of MBE growth of InGaAs on the [001] ridges shows that this reduced In content for narrow ridges is due to a large migration of Ga atoms to the (100) ridge top region from {110} side facets.     

Temperature quenching mechanisms for photoluminescence of MBE-grown chlorine-doped ZnSe epilayers

We report on a detailed investigation on the temperature-dependent behavior of photoluminescence from molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)-grown chlorine-doped ZnSe epilayers. The overwhelming neutral donor bound exciton (Cl⁰X) emission at 2.797 eV near the band edge with a full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 13 meV reveals the high crystalline quality of the samples used. In our experiments, the quick quenching of the Cl⁰X line above 200 K is mainly due to the presence of a nonradiative center with a thermal activation energy of 90 meV. The same activation energy and similar quenching tendency of the Cl⁰X line and the I₃ line at 2.713 eV indicate that they originate from the same physical mechanism. We demonstrate for the first time that the dominant decrease of the integrated intensity of the I₃ line is due to the thermal excitation of the “I₃ center”-bound excitons to its free exciton states, leaving the “I₃ centers” as efficient nonradiative centers. The optical performance of ZnSe materials is expected to be greatly improved if the density of the “I₃ center” can be controlled. The decrease in the luminescence intensity at moderately low temperature (30–200 K) of the Cl⁰X line is due to the thermal activation of neutral-donor-bound excitons (Cl⁰X) to free excitons.     

A Kinetic Theory of Incoherent Exciton Annihilation

The properties of an exciton system with the high concentration are investigated on the basis of microscopical equations for the density matrix of the type of BBGKY hierarchy. A new recipe for decoupling a chain of equations is proposed, which takes into account the effect of three-particle collisions on the definition of a two-particle distribution function of an exciton sub-system. Using this decoupling procedure and making no assumption about the smallness of the quadratic concentration effects the set of equations for density matrix reduced to the known phenomenological equation describing exciton annihilation under steady-state excitation.

The kinetic equations applicable to an essentially larger concentration region are also derived taking into account high concentration effects. There use for the case of excitons with a great diffusion length permits us to predict a new effect of additional luminescence quenching at high excitation levels. This effect turns to be very appreciable in two-, and particularly, in one-dimensional systems and may manifest itself in the kinetics of nonlinear luminescence quenching. A qualitatively new-behaviour of the quantum yield dependence on excitation intensity is predicted, which gives reasonable explanation of recent experimental results.

The limits on concentration and intensity values where the present theory is good are pointed out.

The results of the paper may be applied to other quantum many-particle systems where the coordinates of a quasi-particle are good quantum numbers, and also to chemical reaction theory, to coagulation and the related problems.     

Strong and Weak Exciton-Phonon Coupling in Molecular Crystals

The coupling cases for exciton-phonon interaction in molecular crystals are analysed with the help of three quantities: (i) the exciton bandwidth, related to the exciton transfer rate between molecules, (ii) the dispersive interaction between excitons and phonons, related to the rate of excitation interchange between phonons and excitons, and (iii) the phonon frequencies, related to the rate at which the phonon motions, and lattice structure, respond to changed lattice forces produced by molecular excitations. Cases intermediate between extreme weak coupling (exciton transfer faster than both lattice relaxation and exciton-phonon interchange) and extreme strong coupling (excitation locked on one site by lattice relaxation) are distinguished, and their spectral characteristics discussed.     

N型掺杂ZnSe/BeTeⅡ型量子阱中空间间接带电激子跃迁发光的直接证据

本文研究了N型掺杂ZnSe/BeTe/ZnSeⅡ型量子阱空间间接发光谱的外加电场依赖性.实验结果表明,其发光谱只显示了一个线性偏振度较低的发光峰.这是由于掺杂电子屏蔽了Ⅱ型量子阱中的内秉电场,并使得两个ZnSe阱层具有相同的势.同时该发光谱具有反玻耳兹曼(inverse-Boltzmann)分布,并且线型和线性偏振度在...     

The photoluminescence of ZnO thin films grown on Si (1 0 0) substrate by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

High-quality ZnO thin films have been grown on a Si(1 0 0) substrate by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) using a zinc organic source (Zn(C₂H₅)₂) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) gas mixtures at a temperature of 180°C. A strong free exciton emission with a weak defect-band emission in the visible region is observed. The characteristics of photoluminescence (PL) of ZnO, as well as the exciton absorption peak in the absorption spectra, are closely related to the gas flow rate ratio of Zn(C₂H₅)₂ to CO₂. Full-widths at half-maximum of the free exciton emission as narrow as 93.4 meV have been achieved. Based on the temperature dependence of the PL spectra from 83 to 383 K, the exciton binding energy and the transition energy of free excitons at 0 K were estimated to be 59.4 meV and 3.36 eV, respectively.     

Structural and electrical properties of InAlAs/InGaAs/InAlAs HEMT heterostructures on InP substrates with InAs inserts in quantum well

A complex study of the influence of nanoscale InAs inserts with thicknesses from 1.7 to 3.0 nm introduced into In_0.53Ga_0.47As quantum wells (QWs) on the structural and electrical properties of In_0.52Al_0.48As/In^0.53Ga_0.47As/In_0.52Al_0.48As heterostructures with one-sided δ-Si-doping has been performed. The structural quality of a combined QW was investigated by transmission electron microscopy. A correlation between the electron mobility in QW with the thickness of InAs insert and the technology of its fabrication is established. Specific features of the InP(substrate)/InAlAs(buffer) interface are investigated by transmission electron microscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy. A relationship between the energy positions of the peak in the photoluminescence spectra in the range of photon energies 1.24 eV < ?ω < 1.38 eV, which is due to the electronic transitions at the InP/InAlAs interface, and the structural features revealed in the interface region is established. It is found that an additional QW is unintentionally formed at the InP/InAlAs interface; the parameters of this QW depend on the heterostructure growth technology.     

Photoconductivity in Tl4S3 layered single crystals

Photoconductivity measurements are carried out in this work for single crystals of Tl₄S₃ compound by using both pulsed excitation (a.c) and steady state (a.c) methods in order to elucidate the nature of photoconductivity (PC) in this compound. Results are reported in the temperature range from 77 to 300 K, excitation intensity range from 1800 to 3300 Lux, applied voltage range from 8 to 14 V, and wavelength range from 840 to 1450 nm. Both of the ac‐photoconductivity (ac‐PC) and the spectral distribution of the photocurrent are studied at different values of light intensity, applied voltage and temperature. Dependencies of carrier lifetime on light intensity, applied voltage and temperature are also investigated as results of the ac‐PC measurements. By using the results of the dc‐photoconductivity (dc‐PC) measurements, the temperature dependence of the energy gap width is described. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Electrical and Photoelectrical Properties of n-CuInS2 Single Crystals

The temperature dependences of free electron density and mobility in n-CuInS₂ single crystals have been determined from the Hall effect measurements. The ionization energy of donors and their densities have been estimated. The results of measurements show that the crystals are strongly compensated. The spectral distribution of photoconductivity, the dependence of photoconductivity on excitation intensity, and the photoconductivity decay with time have been measured in the n-CuInS₂ crystals at different temperatures. The results of photo-conductivity measurements suggest linear recombination of photo-electrons at weak excitation and quadratic recombination at high excitation intensity. The compensated deep acceptor probably acts as the recombination centre.     

Time Resolved Energy Migration in an Energetically Disordered Molecular Crystalt

Time resolved emission spectroscopy is used to monitor triplet exciton migration in p-dichloro-benzene-p-dibromobenzene mixed crystals. The migration efficiency is varied by adjusting the concentration and the temperature (2–12°K). Long range migration is found even though the static energy disorder parameter W is much larger than the exciton band width B. Because of exciton tunneling, the range of the transfer is only limited by the maximum lifetime of an exciton. These results illustrate the importance of at least six key parameters in determining the efficiency of long range exciton migration; B, W, the range of transfer, the temperature, the exciton lifetime and the topology of the excitation exchange interactions through its effect on the long range connectedness of the system.     

The impurity ion off-center behavior induced by a localized vibronic Frenkel exciton in a soft-mode crystal

The 3d-4p Frenkel exciton localized at a Mn⁴⁺ impurity ion in BaTiO₃ is considered. The electron and hole of this exciton are correlated, degenerate, and involved in the pair Jahn-Teller effect. Such an exciton is characterized by the significant contribution of indirect electron-hole attraction through lattice (in particular, soft) vibrations to the coupling energy, which is comparable with the Coulomb attraction. Thus, the exciton under consideration is both Coulomb and vibronic excitation. The vibronic contribution increases when approaching the point of soft phonon condensation. It is shown that a vibronic Frenkel exciton allows the off-center behavior of an impurity ion, which is significantly enhanced when approaching the point of soft phonon condensation. As a result, the vibronic Frenkel exciton is a low-lying excitation.