GaAs/AlAs量子阱中受主束缚能和光致发光

从实验和理论上,研究了量子限制效应对GaAs/AlAs多量子阱中受主对重空穴束缚能的影响。实验中所用的样品是通过分子束外延生长的一系列GaAs/AlAs多量子阱,量子阱宽度为3~20nm,并且在量子阱中央进行了浅受主Be原子的δ-掺杂。在4,20,40,80,120K不同温度下,分别对上述样品进行了光致发光谱测量,观察到了受主束缚激子从基态到激发态的两空穴跃迁,并且从实验上测得了在不同量子阱宽度下受主的束缚能。理论上应用量子力学中的变分原理,数值计算了受主对重空穴束缚能随量子阱宽度的变化关系,比较发现,理论计算和实验结果符合地较好。     

量子限制受主的光致发光研究

对一系列δ掺杂浅受主铍（Be）原子的GaAs/AlAs多量子阱和均匀掺杂Be受主的GaAs体材料中Be原子的能级间跃迁进行了光致发光（PL）研究.实验中所用的样品是通过分子束外延技术生长的均匀掺杂Be受主的GaAs外延单层样品和一系列GaAs/AlAs多量子阱样品,并在每量子阱中央进行了Be原子的δ掺杂,量子阱宽度为30 到200 ?.在4.2 K温度下测量了上述系列样品的光致发光谱,清楚地观察到了束缚激子的受主从基态1s_3/2（Γ₆）到第一激发态 关键词： 量子限制受主 光致发光 多量子阱 δ掺杂     

Exciton Recombination and Spin Dynamics in Indirect-Gap Quantum Wells and Quantum Dots

The behavior of excitons in heterostructures with indirect-gap GaAs/AlAs quantum wells and (In, Al)As/AlAs quantum dots is discussed. The possibilities of controlled change of the exciton radiative recombination time in the range from dozens of nanoseconds to dozens of microseconds, experimental study of the spin dynamics of long-lived localized excitons, and use of the optical resonant methods for exciting the indirect-band exciton states are demonstrated.     

Binding energies of wannier excitons in GaAs-Ga1−xAlxAs quantum well structures

Binding energies of Wannier excitons in a quantum well structure consisting of a single slab of GaAs sandwiched between two semi-infinite slabs of Ga_1?xAl_xAs are calculated using a variational approach. Due to reduction in symmetry along the axis of growth of these quantum well structures and the presence of band discontinuities at the interfaces, the degeneracy of the valence band of GaAs is removed leading to two exciton systems, namely, the heavy hole exciton and the light hole exciton. The variations of the binding energies of these two excitons as a function of the size of the GaAs quantum wells for various values of the heights of the potential barrier are calculated and their behavior is discussed.     

基于量子限制的受主带间跃迁太赫兹探测器的制备与测量

使用分子束外延生长设备,在GaAs（100）衬底上生长了量子阱宽度为3 nm的GaAs/AlAs多量子阱样品,并在量子阱层中央进行了Be受主的δ-掺杂。根据量子限制受主从束缚态到非束缚态之间的跃迁,设计并制备了δ-掺杂Be受主GaAs/AlAs多量子阱太赫兹光探测器原型器件。在4.2 K温度下,分别对器件进行了太赫兹光电流谱和暗电流-电压曲线的测量。在6 V直流偏压下,空穴载流子沿量子阱层方向输运。当正入射激光频率为6.8 THz时,器件响应率为2×10^-4 V/W（2 μA/W）。通过器件的暗电流-电压曲线计算了器件全散粒噪声电流,在4.2 K、6 V直流偏压下,全散粒噪声电流为5.03 fA·Hz^-1/2。     

Effect of a Coulomb well in (In,Ga)As/GaAs quantum wells

Magnetooptical investigation of exciton transitions in high-quality quantum wells of an (In, Ga)As/GaAs heterosystem has been carried out. Investigation of transmission of free-hanging samples detached from the substrate in the magnetic fields of up to 12 T revealed a rich fine structure associated with various heavy-hole and light-hole exciton transitions. In particular, transitions from the excited states of light holes localized in a Coulomb potential produced by an electron along the heterojunction axis (a Coulomb well) have been detected. Taking into account consistently stresses, formation of Landau levels, the binding energies of excitons (diamagnetic excitons), and the effect of a Coulomb well, we have succeeded to describe the experimental results with the use of a self-consistent variational procedure. As a result, new features in the structure of optical transitions have been explained and the effective masses of electrons and holes of excitons formed by both heavy and light holes have been determined with a high accuracy.     

Polaron effects on excitons in parabolic quantum wells: fractional-dimension variational approach

Polaron effects on excitons in parabolic quantum wells are studied theoretically by using a variational approach with the so-called fractional dimension model. The numerical results for the exciton binding energies and longitudinal-optical phonon contributions in GaAs/Al_0.3Ga_0.7As parabolic quantum well structures are obtained as functions of the well width. It is shown that the exciton binding energies are obviously reduced by the electron (hole)-phonon interaction and the polaron effects are un-negligible. The results demonstrate that the fractional-dimension variational theory is effectual in the investigations of excitonic polaron problems in parabolic quantum wells.     

Magneto-optical studies of GaAs/AlAs quantum wells

We present a magnetoreflectivity study of three GaAs/AlAs multiple quantum wells with widths 75, 100 and 150 Å. At T = 5K, the reflectivity spectra exhibit features associated with the excitons as well as interband Landau transitions. The slopes of these transitions imply that the electrons are confined in the GaAs layers. In addition, experimental values for the exciton binding energies are determined from the zero field intercepts of the Landau transitions.     

Far-infrared absorption studies of Be acceptors in δ-doped GaAs/AlAs multiple quantum wells

We report a far-infrared absorption study of internal transitions of shallow Be acceptors in both bulk GaAs and a series of δ-doped GaAs/AlAs multiple quantum well samples with well thicknesses of 20, 15 and 10 nm. Low temperature far-infrared absorption measurements clearly show three principal absorption lines due to transitions of Beacceptor states from the ground state to the first three odd-parity excited states, respectively. Using a variational principle, the 2p-1s transition energies of quantum confined Be acceptors are calculated as a function of the well width. It is found that the theoretical calculation of the 2p_z → 1s transitions is in good agreement with the D-like line experimental data.     

Exciton/plasmon mixing in metal–semiconductor heterostructures

We report on the strong coupling between surface plasmons and inorganic quantum well excitons. The sample is formed by a corrugated silver film deposited on the top of a heterostructure consisting of five GaAs/GaAlAs quantum wells grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Reflectometry experiments at low temperature (77 K) evidence the formation of plasmon/heavy-hole exciton/light-hole exciton mixed states. The interaction energies, deduced by fitting the experimental data with a coupled oscillator model, amount to 22 meV for the plasmon/light-hole exciton and 21 meV for the plasmon/heavy-hole exciton. Some particularities of the plasmon–exciton coupling are also discussed and qualitatively related to the plasmon polarization.     

Femtosecond dynamics of secondary radiation formation from quantum well excitons

The time-resolved secondary emission of resonantly created excitons in GaAs quantum wells is studied using femtosecond up-conversion spectroscopy. The behaviour of the rise and decay of the secondary emission and reflectivity in quantum wells is strongly dependent upon the disorder at the interfaces, the exciton density and the temperature. In the case of low densities and temperatures the emission is independent of the exciton density and rises quadratically in time, in excellent agreement with recent theory for Rayleigh scattering from two-dimensional excitons subjected to disorder. These rise times are compared directly with times measured by time-integrated four-wave mixing (FWM). The comparison of the dynamics displayed in time-resolved secondary radiation and time-integrated FWM provide a clear understanding of the coherence properties of QW excitons in the first few picoseconds after excitation. High-contrast oscillations that are due to quantum beats between the heavy- and light-hole 1s-states are seen. The visibility decay at very low densities is long ps and is related to the action of potential fluctuations on the scattering of heavy-hole and light-hole excitons.     

First resonant tunneling via a light-hole ground state

We report the demonstration of resonant tunneling of light-holes through an AlAs/GaAs P double-barrier heterostructure. The tensile strain in the quantum well reverses the order of the light- and heavy-hole levels, the first light-hole level becoming the ground state. The characteristics are measured at different temperatures and compared to those of a standard AlAs/GaAs unstrained structure. The peak current density of the first light-hole resonance and its peak-to-valley current ratio are enhanced. They reach 28 A/cm and 3.4 : 1 at 15 K. A negative differential resistance is observed up to 250 K.     

Excitons in GaAs quantum wells

This paper attempts to summarize some of the salient properties of excitons in GaAs quantum wells and in doing so it will emphasize work at AT&T Bell Labs with which the authors have been associated. Although the text relies heavily on published material, an effort has been made to stress new material, and where feasible, unpublished aspects, e.g., figures, related to earlier work. Topics discussed on the quasi-2D excitons in GaAs quantum well include: their inherent tendency for intrinsic free-exciton emission, exciton binding energies, bound and localized excitons including biexcitons and excitons bound to neutral impurities, effects of n- and p-type modulation and antimodulation doping, and the developments leading to a proposed set of quantum well parameters that results in acceptable fits to the observed exciton transitions for GaAs quantum wells with both square and parabolic potential profiles.     

Non-linear luminescence due to exciton - e-h plasma transformation in mixed type I - type II quantum wells

We report on the photoluminescence and its excitation spectra of mixed type I - type II GaAs/AlAs quantum wells (MTQW) under applied magnetic fields. These structures consist of alternating narrow and wide wells and are designed so that the electron density in the wide well can be optically controlled. A transition from excitonic to free carrier recombination is observed as the electron density is increased.     

Modified excitonic resonances in GaAs/AlAs multiple quantum well heterostructures with ultrathin barriers

Excitonic resonance structures in GaAs/AlAs multiple quantum well heterostructures with varying barrier-layer thicknessesL _B down to 1.3 nm are investigated for two sets of samples with the nominal well widths ofL _Z =9.2 and 6.4 nm, by 2K photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy. The observed resonance energies of then=1 heavyhole (1 hh) and light-hole (1 lh) free excitons imply that quantum confinement effects persist at least down to the decreased barrier-layer thickness ofL _B =1.3 nm. This result is inconsistent with the red shifts expected from the simple well-coupling theory within the one-band Kronig-Penney model at the point. Instead, blue shifts of 6–8 meV (8–17 meV) are observed for the 1 hh (1 lh) excitonic resonance peaks whenL _B is decreased from 10 to 2 nm. A relative decrease of the oscillator strength of the 1 lh transition compared to the 1 hh transition is also observed asL _B is decreased. These results manifest important effects of the indirect-gap barrier material for the actual wavefunction matching across the interface and the breakdown of the envelope function approach to GaAs/AlAs quantum well heterostructures with ultrathin barriers.     

Kinetics of indirect photoluminescence in GaAs/AlxGa1−x As double quantum wells in a random potential with a large amplitude

The kinetics of indirect photoluminescence of GaAs/Al_xGa_1−x As double quantum wells, characterized by a random potential with a large amplitude (the linewidth of the indirect photoluminescence is comparable to the binding energy of an indirect exciton) in magnetic fields B≤12 T at low temperatures T≥1.3 K is investigated. It is found that the indirect-recombination time increases with the magnetic field and decreases with increasing temperature. It is shown that the kinetics of indirect photoluminescence corresponds to single-exciton recombination in the presence of a random potential in the plane of the double quantum wells. The variation of the nonradiative recombination time is discussed in terms of the variation of the transport of indirect excitons to nonradiative recombination centers, and the variation of the radiative recombination time is discussed in terms of the variation of the population of optically active excitonic states and the localization radius of indirect excitons. The photoluminescence kinetics of indirect excitons, which is observed in the studied GaAs/Al_xGa_1−x As double quantum wells for which the random potential has a large amplitude, is qualitatively different from the photoluminescence kinetics of indirect excitons in AlAs/GaAs wells and GaAs/Al_xGa_1−x As double quantum wells with a random potential having a small amplitude. The temporal evolution of the photoluminescence spectra in the direct and indirect regimes is studied. It is shown that the evolution of the photoluminescence spectra corresponds to excitonic recombination in a random potential. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 115, 1890–1905 (May 1999)     

The binding energy of a shallow donor in type-II quantum wells

The binding energy of a shallow donor in type-II quantum wells was calculated by a variational method, using a single parameter. A type-II AlAs/GaAs single quantum well was chosen to calculate the binding energy of a shallow donor as a function of the donor position and the barrier width.     

Heavy- and light-hole excitons in anisotropic semiconductors

Summary We show how to compute the eigenvalues of an anisotropic Schroedinger equation for light-and heavy-hole excitons using a simplified deltalike interaction potential. Performing the calculation with a potential appropriate to bulk GaAs crystal, we obtain the excitonic binding energies for the heavy- and light-hole excitons, with the heavy-hole binding energy greater than that for the light hole. Inversion of this order for the case of a quantum well is discussed and expalined     

Exciton quantization in parabolic quantum wells

The exciton wavefunction in parabolic quantum wells is calculated using variational techniques and effective mass theory. The influences of the potential shape and of confinement on the exciton binding energies are studied. The results are in good agreement with previous calculations. The oscillator-strength of excitons in GaAs/Ga_1-xAl_xAS quantum wells has a maximum value very close to the cross-over from three to two dimensions.     

Collective behavior of interwell excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs double quantum wells

Photoluminescence spectra of interwell excitons in double GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells (n-i-n structures) have been investigated (an interwell exciton in these systems is an electron-hole pair spatially separated by a narrow AlAs barrier). Under resonance excitation by circularly polarized light, the luminescence line of interwell excitons exhibits a significant narrowing and a drastic increase in the degree of circular polarization of photoluminescence with increasing exciton concentration. It is found that the radiative recombination rate significantly increases under these conditions. This phenomenon is observed at temperatures lower than the critical point and can be interpreted in terms of the collective behavior of interwell excitons.