Abnormal temperature dependence of photoluminescence from self-assembled InAs quantum dots covered by an InAlAs/InGaAs combination layer

In this report we have investigated the temperature dependence of photoluminescence (PL) from self-assembled InAs quantum dots (QDs) covered by an InAlAs/InGaAs combination layer. The ground state experiences an abnormal variation of PL linewidth from 15 K up to room temperature. Meanwhile, the PL integrated intensity ratio of the first excited state to the ground state for InAs QDs unexpectedly decreases with increasing temperature, which we attribute to the phonon bottleneck effect. We believe that these experimental results are closely related to the partially coupled quantum dots system and the large energy separation between the ground and the first excited states.     

Grid-pattern aligned InAs self-assembled quantum dots grown on InP substrate

We present a method to control the nucleation sites of InAs self-assembled quantum dots (QDs). Tensile-strained material, such as GaAs used here, was grown on InP substrates before InAs deposition. This thin GaAs layer can provide a surface with grid-pattern trenches which have the same function as atomic-steps and are promising for the formation of QDs with controlled nucleation sites. Atom force microscopy (AFM) measurement was performed and the AFM images indicate that the InAs islands grown with our technique are grid-pattern aligned and have good homogeneity and low size fluctuation. In addition, another kind of three-dimensional structure with larger size would coexist with normal QDs if a 30nm thick GaAs layer was deposited. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Electronic and optical properties of InAs/InP self-assembled quantum dots on patterned substrates

We present atomistic theory of electronic and optical properties of a single InAs quantum dot grown on a pyramidal InP nanotemplate. The shape and size of the dot is assumed to follow the nanotemplate shape and size. The electron and valence hole single particle states are calculated using atomistic effective–bond–orbital model with second nearest-neighbor interactions. The electronic calculations are coupled to separately calculated strain distribution via Bir–Pikus Hamiltonian. The optical properties of InAs dots embedded in InP pyramids are calculated by solving the many-exciton Hamiltonian for interacting electron and hole complexes using the configuration–interaction method. The effect of quantum-dot geometry on the optical spectra is investigated by a comparison between dots of different shapes.     

Extremely low density self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots

The self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) with extremely low density of 8×106 cm-2 are achieved using higher growth temperature and lower InAs coverage by low-pressure metal-organic chemical vapour deposition (MOVCD). As a result of micro-photoluminescence (micro-PL), for extremely low density of 8×106 cm-2 InAs QDs in the micro-PL measurements at 10 K, only one emission peak has been achieved. It is believed that the InAs QDs have a good potential to realize single photon sources.     

Electronic characteristics of InAs self-assembled quantum dots

Deep-level transient spectroscopy and photoluminescence studies have been carried out on structures containing self-assembled InAs quantum dots formed in GaAs matrices. The use of n- and p-type GaAs matrices allows us to study separately electron and hole levels in the quantum dots by the deep-level transient spectroscopy technique. From analysis of deep-level transient spectroscopy measurements it follows that the quantum dots have electron levels 130 meV below the bottom of the GaAs conduction band and heavy-hole levels at 90 meV above the top of the GaAs valence band. Combining with the photoluminescence results, the band structures of InAs and GaAs have been determined.     

Photoreflectance characterization of InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots grown by ALMBE

We report on a photoreflectance investigation in the 0.8-1.5 eV photon energy range and at temperatures from 80 to 300 K on stacked layers of InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) grown by Atomic-Layer Molecular Beam Epitaxy. We observed clear and well-resolved structures, which we attribute to the optical response of different QD families. The dependence of the ground state transition energy on the number of stacked QD layers is investigated and discussed considering vertical coupling between dots of the same column. It is shown that Coulomb interaction can account for the observed optical response of QD families with different morphology coexisting in the same sample. Received 17 November 1999     

Optimising uniformity of InAs/(InGaAs)/GaAs quantum dots grown by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy

A route towards optimisation of uniformity and density of InAs/(InGaAs)/GaAs quantum dots grown by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) through successive variations of the growth parameters is reported. It is demonstrated that a key parameter in obtaining a high density of quantum dots is the V/III ratio, a fact which was shown to be valid when either AsH₃ (arsine) or tertiary-butyl-arsine (TBA) were used as group V precursors. Once the optimum V/III ratio was found, the size distribution was further improved by adjusting the nominal thickness of deposited InAs material, resulting in an optimum thickness of 1.8 monolayers of InAs in our case. The number of coalesced dots was minimised by adjusting the growth interruption time to approximately 30 s. Further, the uniformity was improved by increasing the growth temperature from 485 °C to 520 °C. By combining these optimised parameters, i.e. a growth temperature of 520 °C, 1.8 monolayers InAs thickness, 30 s growth stop time and TBA as group V precursor, a full-width-half-maximum (FWHM) of the low temperature luminescence band of 40 meV was achieved, indicating a narrow dot size distribution.     

Polaron relaxation dynamics in InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots

Polaron decay in n-type InAs quantum dots has been investigated using energy dependent, mid-infrared pump–probe spectroscopy. By studying samples with differing ground state to first excited state energy separations the relaxation time has been measured between 40 and 60 meV. The low-temperature decay time increases with increasing detuning between the pump energy and the optical phonon energy and is maximum (55 ps) at 56 meV. From the experimentally determined decay times we are able to extract a low-temperature optical phonon lifetime of 13 ps for InAs QDs. We find that the polaron decay time decreases by a factor of 2 at room temperature due to the reduction of the optical phonon lifetime.     

Long polaron lifetime in InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots

We have investigated the polaron dynamics in n-doped InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots by pump-probe midinfrared spectroscopy. A long T1 polaron decay time is measured at both low temperature and room temperature, with values around 70 and 37 ps, respectively. The decay time decreases for energies closer to the optical phonon energy. The relaxation is explained by the strong coupling for the electron-phonon interaction and by the finite lifetime of the optical phonons. We show that, even for a large detuning of 19 meV from the LO photon energy in GaAs, the carrier relaxation remains phonon assisted.     

Absorption spectroscopy of single InAs self-assembled quantum dots

Excitonic transitions of single InAs self-assembled quantum dots were directly measured at 4.2 K in an optical transmission experiment. We use the Stark effect in order to tune the exciton energy of a single quantum dot into resonance with a narrow-band laser. With this method, sharp resonances in the transmission spectra are observed. The oscillator strengths as well as the homogeneous line widths of the single-dot optical transitions are obtained. A clear saturation in the absorption is observed at modest laser powers.     

Single-electron transistor spectroscopy of InGaAs self-assembled quantum dots

A single-electron transistor (SET) is used to detect tunneling of single electrons into individual InGaAs self-assembled quantum dots (QDs). By using an SET with a small island area and growing QDs with a low density we are able to distinguish and measure three QDs. The bias voltage at which resonant tunneling into the dots occurs can be shifted using a surface gate electrode. From the applied voltages at which we observe electrons tunneling, we are able to measure the electron addition energies of three QDs.     

Excitonic energy shell structure of self-assembled InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots

Performing optical spectroscopy of highly homogeneous quantum dot arrays in ultrahigh magnetic fields, an unprecedently well resolved Fock-Darwin spectrum is observed. The existence of up to four degenerate electronic shells is demonstrated where the magnetic field lifts the initial degeneracies, which reappear when levels with different angular momenta come into resonance. The resulting level shifting and crossing pattern also show evidence of many-body effects such as the mixing of configurations and exciton condensation at the resonances.     

Magneto-optical properties of self-assembled InAs quantum dots for quantum information processing

Semiconductor quantum dots have been intensively investigated because of their fundamental role in solid-state quantum information processing. The energy levels of quantum dots are quantized and can be tuned by external field such as optical, electric, and magnetic field. In this review, we focus on the development of magneto–optical properties of single In As quantum dots embedded in Ga As matrix, including charge injection, relaxation, tunneling, wavefunction distribution,and coupling between different dimensional materials. Finally, the perspective of coherent manipulation of quantum state of single self-assembled quantum dots by photocurrent spectroscopy with an applied magnetic field is discussed.     

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.     

Stress evolution during growth of bilayer self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots

We investigated the stress evolution during molecular-beam epitaxy of bilayer InAs/GaAs(001) quantum dot (QD) structures in real time and with sub-monolayer precision using an in-situ cantilever beam setup. During growth of the InAs at 470 °C a stress of 5.1 GPa develops in the wetting layer, in good agreement with the theoretical misfit stress. At a critical thickness of 1.5 monolayers the strain is relieved by the QD formation. In the case of InAs/GaAs bilayer structures, the second InAs layer grows identical to the first for GaAs spacer thicknesses exceeding ∼13 nm. For thinner spacers the critical thickness for the 2D/3D transition in the second layer decreases. The stress of the second InAs layer does not reach the value of the first, indicating that InAs QDs grow on partially strained areas due to the strain field of the previous InAs layer. PACS 68.35.-p; 68.35.Gy; 68.65.Hb; 81.07.Ta; 81.10.Aj     

Nanometer-scale resolution of strain and interdiffusion in self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots

Tomographic nanometer-scale images of self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots have been obtained from surface-sensitive x-ray diffraction. Based on the three-dimensional intensity mapping of selected regions in reciprocal space, the method yields the shape of the dots along with the lattice parameter distribution and the vertical interdiffusion profile on a subnanometer scale. The material composition is found to vary continuously from GaAs at the base of the dot to InAs at the top.     

State-filling and magneto-photoluminescence of excited states in InGaAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots

We present the first radiative lifetime measurements and magneto-photoluminescence results of excited states in InGaAs/GaAs semiconductor self-assembled quantum dots. By increasing the photo-excitation intensity, excited state interband transitions up ton= 5 can be observed in the emission spectrum. The dynamics of the interband transitions and the inter-sublevel relaxation in these zero-dimensional energy levels lead to state-filling of the lower-energy states, allowing the quasi-Fermi level to be raised by more than 200 meV due to the combined large inter-sublevel spacing and the low density of states. The decay time of each energy level obtained under various excitation conditions is used to evaluate the inter-sublevel thermalization time. Finally, the emission spectrum of the dots filled with an average of about eight excitons is measured in magnetic fields up to 13 Tesla. The dependences of the spectrum as a function of carrier density and magnetic field are compared to calculations and interpreted in terms of coherent many-exciton states and their destruction by the magnetic field.     

Effect of deposition period on structural and optical properties of InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots formed by InAs/GaAs short-period superlattices

Structural and optical properties of In_0.5Ga_0.5As/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) grown at 510 °C by atomic layer molecular beam epitaxy technique are studied as a function of n repeated deposition of 1-ML-thick InAs and 1-ML-thick GaAs. Cross-sectional images reveal that the QDs are formed by single large QDs rather than closely stacked InAs QDs and their shape is trapezoidal. In the image, existence of wetting layers is not clear. In 300 K-photoluminescence (PL) spectra of InGaAs QDs (n=5), 4 peaks are resolved. Origin of each peak transition is discussed. Finally, it was found that the PL linewidths of atomic layer epitaxy (ALE) QDs were weakly sensitive to cryostat temperatures (16–300 K). This is attributed to the nature of ALE QDs; higher uniformity and weaker wetting effect compared to SK QDs.     

Anomalous quantum-confined Stark effects in stacked InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots

Vertically stacked and coupled InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots (SADs) are predicted to exhibit strong hole localization even with vanishing separation between the dots, and a nonparabolic dependence of the interband transition energy on the electric field, which is not encountered in single SAD structures. Our study based on an eight-band strain-dependent k x p Hamiltonian indicates that this anomalous quantum confined Stark effect is caused by the three-dimensional strain field distribution which influences drastically the hole states in the stacked SAD structures.     

Photoluminescence of InAs quantum dots embedded in graded InGaAs barriers

The effects of the top barrier and the dot density on photoluminescence (PL) of the InAs quantum dots (QDs) sandwiched by the graded In_xGa_1−xAs barriers grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) have been studied. Two emission peaks corresponding to the ground state and the 1st excited state transitions of the QD structures have been observed, which matches well to the theoretical calculation. The PL emission linewidth and intensity of the InAs QDs structure are improved by reducing the Indium/Gallium composition variation of the graded In_xGa_1−xAs top barrier layer of the structure. The QDs’ ground states filling excitation power depends on the crystal quality of the InGaAs barrier layer and the QD density. The extracted thermal activation energy for the QDs’ PL emission is sensitive to the QD size.