Donor-acceptor recombination in type-II GaAs/AlAs superlattices

A study is reported of steady-and nonsteady-state photoluminescence of intentionally undoped and uniformly silicon-doped type-II (GaAs)₇(AlAs)₉ superlattices grown by MBE simultaneously on (311)A-and (100)-oriented GaAs substrates. It has been established that at elevated temperatures (160>T>30 K) the superlattice spectra are dominated by the line due to the donor-acceptor recombination between donors in the AlAs layers and acceptors located in the GaAs layers. The total carrier binding energy to the donor and acceptor in a pair has been determined. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 1734–1739 (September 1998)     

Temperature dependence of the tunable luminescence of GaAs doping superlattices

Doping superlattices show tunable optical and electrical properties due to the space charge induced separation of photoexcited or electrically injected carriers. We have investigated the tunable luminescence in GaAs doping superlattices of doping levels n=1×10¹⁸cm⁻³ and n=4×10 ¹⁸cm⁻³ as function of excitation density and sample temperature. The temperature dependence of the tunability was investigated in the range between 4 and 700K, and we found the critical transition temperatures T₀ at 90 and 460K for the low and high doped samples, respectively. The results verify the theoretical prediction concerning the transition temperature at which the luminescence changes from full to zero tunability.     

Photoluminescence studies of GaAs/AlAs short period superlattices

Low-temperature pressure-dependent photoluminescence measurements on short-period GaAs/AlAs superlattice structures are presented. Measurements show that the lowest energy conduction-band states are in the AlAs layers and the highest energy valence-band states are located in the GaAs layers. This result is supported by the following three experimental observations: (1) the observed pressure coefficient for the conduction-band to valence-band transition energy is negative, (2) the magnetic mass of this transition is “heavy”, and (3) the band-to-band absorption coefficient appears to be small. These experimental observations are in agreement with predictions of tight-binding calculations.     

Observation of tunable room temperature photoluminescence in GaAs doping superlattices

We report the observation of tunable room temperature photoluminescence in GaAs doping superlattices with high doping concentrations. This result confirms a simple model for estimating whether tunable tunneling recombination will prevail over thermally activated vertical recombination for a given superlattice configuration and temperature. The luminescence efficiency is found to be high.     

Effect of the coherence of free electron-hole pairs on excitonic absorption in GaAs/AlGaAs superlattices

The effect of photoexcited free carriers on the absorption spectra dynamics of GaAs/Al_xGa_1−x As superlattices is investigated experimentally by the pump-probe method. A sharp change in the shift of the excitonic resonance energy from the low-to the high-energy direction is found to occur at the moment that the electromagnetic radiation of the pump and probe beams overlap in the case of band-band excitation. This phenomenon is explained in a model of scattering of high-energy electron-hole pairs. The dephasing time of free high-energy particles is experimentally estimated to be several tens of femtoseconds. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 67, No. 1, 62–67 (10 January 1998)     

Magneto-optic determination of the light-hole effective masses in InGaAs/GaAs strained-layer superlattices

Low-temperature magneto-luminescence studies on strained layer superlattices are used to determine in-plane light-hole band effective masses in both n- and p-type InGaAs/GaAs structures.     

Photoluminescence dynamics due to exciton and free carrier transport in GaAs/AlAs superlattices

Photogenerated carrier transfer is investigated in a set of three GaAs/AlAs short-period superlattices (SPSs) with different barrier thicknesses by steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy at 15–20 K as a function of excitation power. The tunneling transport of carriers is evaluated by detecting excitonic PL signals from an embedded GaAs single quantum well (SQW) in the middle of the SPS layer. We find that, as the barrier thickness is decreased, the PL intensity ratio of SQW/SPS increases systematically due to enhanced tunneling efficiencies of both electrons and holes. However, the PL intensity ratio significantly increases with decreases in the excitation power by more than two orders of the magnitude. We attribute the enhanced PL intensity of SQW relative to the SPS to the faster transport of electrons that can recombine with residual holes to form excitons in SQW. The PL dynamics of SQW and SPS thus shows unique density-dependent PL intensity and time behaviors due to variations in relative amounts of excitons and free carriers to be transported into the SQW layer.     

Photoluminescence study of native defects in annealed GaAs

Low temperature (6°K) photoluminescence measurements have been performed on GaAs annealed under various conditions, to study defects generated by outdiffusion of the constituent atoms. Several defect-related luminescence peaks have been observed and associated with Ga and As outdiffusion. The outdiffusion of these elements during annealing to 850°C in vacuum and with Ga or As overpressure and SiO₂ coatings is studied by monitoring the intensities of these peaks.     

Direct determination of reduced band gap and chemical potential in an electron-hole plasma in high-purity GaAs

We report the first transmission experiments with tunable i.r. Laser light through an electron-hole plasma in high purity GaAs. Negative absorption (gain) is observed at energies below the chemical potential, and positive absorption above. The experimentally determined energetic positions of the reduced band gap and chemical potential are lower than theoretically expected.     

Influence of material design parameters on radiative recombination in GaAs doping superlattices grown by MBE

The specific luminescence process in GaAs doping superlattices arises from recombination of electrons populating low-index conduction subbands with holes in the acceptor impurity band across the indirect gap in real space. The luminescence peak energy thus directly reflects the actual value of the tunable gap for the photoexcited state of the superlattice. We have studied the tunability of the effective gap, the recombination rate, and the relative quantum efficiency on superlattice specimen of different material design parameters by means of low-temperature photoluminescence measurements. For optimized design parameters the ratio between luminescence and excitation intensity remains nearly constant over the entire tunability range of the effective gap.     

An investigation of the recombination mechanisms associated with the X states in type II GaAs/AlAs superlattices

We present a new examination of the phonon modes participating in the recombination processes from type II GaAs/AlAs superlattices. This is achieved through the use of a novel Raman resonance at the type II band gap, which provides a very precise, in-situ measurement technique for the important phonon energies. These are compared with the energies of the phonon satellites appearing in the photoluminescence emissions, using external uniaxial stress to access, in turn, the optical properties of both the longitudinal and transverse X states. Not only do these measurements resolve an existing controversy in the assignment of one of these satellites, but they also demonstrate that two of the others are currently in error, and re-assignments are proposed.     

Bombardment-induced tunable superlattices in the growth of Au-Ni films

Highly ordered superlattices are typically created through the sequential deposition of two different materials. Here, we report our experimental observation of spontaneous formation of superlattices in coevaporation of Au and Ni under energetic ion bombardment. The superlattice periodicities are on the order of a few nanometers and can be adjusted through the energy and flux of ion beams. Such a self-organization process is a consequence of the bombardment-induced segregation and uphill diffusion within the advancing nanoscale subsurface zone in the film growth. Our observations suggest that ion beams can be employed to make tunable natural superlattices in the deposition of phase-separated systems with strong bombardment-induced segregation.     

Photoluminescence and the structure of heterointerfaces of (311)A-and (311)B-oriented GaAs/AlAs superlattices

GaAs/AlAs superlattices grown simultaneously on GaAs substrates with the (311)A and (311)B orientations have been studied by photoluminescence and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy with a Fourier analysis of images. A periodic interface corrugation is observed for (311)B superlattices. A comparison of the structure of (311)A and (311)B superlattices indicates that the corrugation occurs in both cases and its period along the $[01\overline 1 ]$ direction is equal to 3.2 nm. The corrugation is less pronounced in (311)B superlattices, wherein it exhibits an additional modulation (long-wavelength disorder) with the characteristic lateral size exceeding 10 nm. The vertical correlation of regions rich in GaAs and AlAs, which is well observed in (311)A superlattices, is weak in (311)B superlattices due to the occurrence of long-wavelength disorder. The optical properties of (311)B superlattices are similar to those of (100) ones and differ radically from those of (311)A superlattices. As distinct from (311)B, strong photoluminescence polarization anisotropy is observed for (311)A superlattices. It is shown that it is the interface corrugation rather than the crystallographic (311) surface orientation that determines the optical properties of (311)A corrugated superlattices with thin GaAs and AlAs layers.     

On the low energy tail of the electron-hole drop recombination spectrum

The luminescence line shape of electron-hole drops in germanium is calculated assuming that the final state of the radiative transition is lifetime broadened due to Auger processes in the degenerate bands. This level broadening can account for the existence of the experimentally observed low energy tail in the recombination spectrum. The theoretical line shape is in good agreement with experimental results.     

Comment on the electron-hole droplet condensation in direct gap semiconductors

The electron-hole droplet nucleation in highly excited direct gap semiconductors is a non-equilibrium phase transition of second order. Within the framework of a Fokker - Planck approximation modifications of the thermodynamic phase diagram and the cluster distribution function are calculated. Due to the short lifetime of the electronic excitations only very small electron - hole clusters can be formed.