Sb/As intermixing in self-assembled GaSb/GaAs type II quantum dot systems and control of their photoluminescence spectra

The intermixing of Sb and As atoms induced by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) was investigated for type II GaSb/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots (QD) formed by molecular beam epitaxy growth. Just as in InAs/GaAs QD systems, the intermixing induces a remarkable blueshift of the photoluminescence (PL) peak of QDs and reduces the inhomogeneous broadening of PL peaks for both QD ensemble and wetting layer (WL) as consequences of the weakening of quantum confinement. Contrary to InAs/GaAs QDs systems, however, the intermixing has led to a pronounced exponential increase in PL intensity for GaSb QDs with annealing temperature up to 875 °C. By analyzing the temperature dependence of PL for QDs annealed at 700, 750 and 800 °C, activation energies of PL quenching from QDs at high temperatures are 176.4, 146 and 73.9 meV. The decrease of QD activation energy with annealing temperatures indicates the reduction of hole localization energy in type II QDs due to the Sb/As intermixing. The activation energy for the WL PL was found to drastically decrease when annealed at 800 °C where the QD PL intensity surpassed WL.     

Mn-including InAs quantum dots fabricated by Mn implantation

Mn-including InAs quantum dots (QDs) were fabricated by Mn-ion implantation and subsequent annealing. The optical, compositional, and structural properties of the treated samples were analyzed by photoluminescence (PL) and microscopy. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) results indicate that Mn ions diffused from the bulk GaAs into the InAs QDs during annealing, and the diffusion appears to be driven by the strain in the InAs QDs. The temperature dependence of the PL of Mn-including InAs QD samples exhibits QDs PL characteristics. At the same time, the heavy Mn-including InAs QD samples have ferromagnetic properties and high T_c.     

Bandgap engineering of self-assembled InAs quantum dots with a thin AlAs barrier

We investigate the effects of a thin AlAs layer with different position and thickness on the optical properties of InAs quantum dots (QDs) by using transmission electron microscopy and photoluminescence (PL). The energy level shift of InAs QD samples is observed by introducing the thin AlAs layer without any significant loss of the QD qualities. The emission peak from InAs QDs directly grown on the 4 monolayer (ML) AlAs layer is blueshifted from that of reference sample by 219 meV with a little increase in FWHM from 42–47 meV for ground state. In contrast, InAs QDs grown under the 4 ML AlAs layer have PL peak a little redshifted to lower energy by 17 meV. This result is related to the interdiffusion of Al atom at the InAs QDs caused by the annealing effect during growing of InAs QDs on AlAs layer.     

Effects of rapid thermal annealing on the optical properties of InAs/(In)GaAs quantum dots with different areal density

The effects of rapid thermal annealing on the optical properties of InAs/(In)GaAs quantum dots (QDs) with different areal density were investigated by photoluminescence (PL) measurement. The annealing results in PL peak energy blue-shift which strongly depends on QD areal density and capping layer. It is noticeable that low-density QDs and/or InGaAs-capped QDs are more sensitive to the annealing. We attribute the larger energy blue-shift from these samples to enhanced strain-driven diffusion and/or defect-assisted diffusion.     

Photoluminescence and lasing properties of InAs/GaAs quantum dots grown by metal-organic chemical vapour deposition

Photoluminescence （PL） and lasing properties of InAs/GaAs quantum dots （QDs） with different growth procedures prepared by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition are studied. PL measurements show that the low growth rate QD sample has a larger PL intensity and a narrower PL line width than the high growth rate sample. During rapid thermal annealing, however, the low growth rate sample shows a greater blueshift of PL peak wavelength. This is caused by the larger InAs layer thickness which results from the larger 2-3 dimensional transition critical layer thickness for the QDs in the low-growth-rate sample. A growth technique including growth interruption and in-situ annealing, named indium flush method, is used during the growth of GaAs cap layer, which can flatten the GaAs surface effectively. Though the method results in a blueshift of PL peak wavelength and a broadening of PL line width, it is essential for the fabrication of room temperature working QD lasers.     

Optical properties of Si-doped InAs/InP quantum dots

InAs quantum dots (QDs) were grown on InP substrates by low pressure-metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Disilane (Si₂H₆) was used as an n-type dopant. The positions of Si doping were varied: buffer layer, capping layer, modulation doping, and QD itself. Surface treatment of InP by Si₂H₆ was also performed to see the effect of Si on InAs QD. Photoluminescence (PL) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to characterize optical and structural properties of QDs, respectively. It was found that the PL peak positions varied from 0.73 to 0.88 eV with the position of Si doping. PL peak blue shift in modulation doped sample was explained in terms of state filling effect. It was found that Si doping at QD itself was the most effective way to obtain the strongest integrated PL intensity without degrading the QD size distribution.     

Selective growth of stacked InAs quantum dots by using the templates formed by the Nano-Jet Probe

We have demonstrated the selective area growth of stacked self-assembled InAs quantum dot (QD) arrays in the desired regions on a substrate and confirmed the photoluminescence (PL) emission exhibited by them at room temperature. These InAs QDs are fabricated by the use of a specially designed atomic force microscope cantilever referred to as the Nano-Jet Probe (NJP). By using the NJP, two-dimensional arrays with ordered In nano-dots are fabricated in the desired square regions on a GaAs substrate and directly converted into InAs QD arrays through the subsequent annealing by the irradiation of As flux. By using the converted QD arrays as strain templates, self-organized InAs QDs are stacked. These stacked QDs exhibit the PL emission peak at a wavelength of 1.02 μm.     

Effects of thermal annealing on the interband transitions of single and vertically stacked InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots

Photoluminescence (PL) measurements have been carried out to investigate the annealing effects in one-period and three-periods of InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) grown on GaAs substrates by using molecular beam epitaxy. After annealing, the PL spectra for the annealed InAs/GaAs QDs showed dramatic blue shifts and significant linewidth narrowing of the PL peaks compared with the as-grown samples. The variations in the PL peak position and the full width at half-maximum of the PL peak are attributed to changes in the composition of the InAs QDs resulting from the interdiffusion between the InAs QDs and the GaAs barrier and to the size homogeneity of the QDs. These results indicate that the optical properties and the crystal qualities of InAs/GaAs QDs are dramatically changed by thermal treatment.     

Molecular beam epitaxy growth and characterization of self-assembled InAs quantum dots on (1 0 0) InAlAs/InP substrates

Self-assembled InAs quantum dots (QDs) on In_0.52Al_0.48As layer lattice matched to (1 0 0) InP substrates have been grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and evaluated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and photoluminescence (PL). TEM observations indicate that defect-free InAs QDs can be grown to obtain emissions over the technologically important 1.3–1.55 μm region. The PL peak positions for the QDs shift to low energy as the InAs coverage increases, corresponding to increase in QD size. The room temperature PL peak at 1.58 μm was observed from defect-free InAs QDs with average dot height of 3.6 nm.     

Time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy of InAs quantum dots on InP with various InAlGaAs barrier thicknesses

The Optical characteristics of InAs quantum dots (QDs) embeded in InAlGaAs on InP have been investigated by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and time-resolved PL. Four different QD samples are grown by using molecular beam epitaxy, and all the QD samples have five-stacked InAs quantum dot layers with a different InAlGaAs barrier thickness. The PL yield from InAs QDs was increased with an increase in the thickness of the InAlGaAs barrier, and the emission peak positions of all InAs QD samples were measured around 1.5 μm at room temperature. The decay time of the carrier in InAs QDs is decreased abruptly in the QD sample with the 5 nm InAlGaAs barrier. This feature is explained by the tunneling and coupling effect in the vertical direction and probably defect generation.     

2018年5期 电子期刊

研究了不同Mn/Pb量比的Mn掺杂CsPbCl₃（Mn：CsPbCl₃）钙钛矿量子点的发光性质。Mn/Pb的量比增加引起的Mn²⁺发光峰的红移,被认为是来源于高浓度Mn²⁺掺杂下的Mn²⁺-Mn²⁺对。进一步研究了Mn：CsPbCl₃量子点的发光效率与Mn/Pb的量比之间的关系,发现随着量比达到5：1时,其发光效率明显下降。这种发光效率下降是由于Mn掺杂浓度引起的发光猝灭。Mn：CsPbCl₃量子点的变温发光光谱证实,随着温度的升高,Mn离子发光峰蓝移,线宽加宽,但其发光强度明显增加。     

Observation of monolayer-splitting for InAs/GaAs quantum dots

A pronounced modulation is observed in the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of self-organized InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs), recorded at low excitation densities. The clearly distinguishable peaks are identified as a multimodal distribution of the ground state transition energy, originating from a discrete, stepwise variation of the structural properties of the QDs, which is associated with an increase of the QD height in monolayer (ML) steps. The observation of a ML splitting implies a flat QD shape with well-defined upper and lower interfaces as well as negligible indium segregation. The electronic properties of the InAs/GaAs QDs were investigated by PL and PL-excitation spectroscopy and are discussed based on realistic calculations for flat InAs/GaAs QDs with a truncated pyramidal shape based on an extended 8-band k·p model. The calculations predict a red shift of the ground state transition with each additional ML, which saturates for heights above 9 ML, is in good agreement with experiment.     

Emission and strain in InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells with InAs quantum dots obtained at different temperatures

The photoluminescence (PL), its temperature dependence and X ray diffraction (XRD) have been studied in the symmetric In_0.15Ga_0.85As/GaAs quantum wells (QWs) with embedded InAs quantum dots (QDs), obtained with the variation of QD growth temperatures (470–535 °C). The increase of QD growth temperatures is accompanied by the enlargement of QD lateral sizes (from 12 up to 28 nm) and by the shift non monotonously of PL peak positions. The fitting procedure has been applied for the analysis of the temperature dependence of PL peaks. The obtained fitting parameters testify that in studied QD structures the process of In/Ga interdiffusion between QDs and capping/buffer layers takes place partially. However this process cannot explain the difference in PL peak positions.     

Temperature-dependent photoluminescence of vertically stacked self-assembled CdSe quantum dots in ZnSe

We studied the optical properties of multiple layers of self-assembled CdSe quantum dots (QDs) embedded in ZnSe, grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The ZnSe barrier thicknesses separating the QD layers ranged from 30 to 60 monolayers (ML). For stacks with thinnest ZnSe barriers photoluminescence (PL) measurements reveal blue shifts as large as 180 meV relative to PL observed for single QD layers. The amount of blue shift decreases with increasing barrier thickness, and for the 60 ML spacer the PL energy returns to that emitted by a single layer of QDs. Temperature dependence of the integrated intensity of the emission spectra reveals that the activation energy for PL quenching is largest for barrier thicknesses of 30 and 45 ML. We tentatively attribute these effects to a decrease in the size of the vertically stacked QDs when the thickness of the barrier layers is small.     

Estimation of built-in dipole moment in InAs quantum dots

We have fabricated a Schottky diode embedding InAs self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) grown by alternately supplying In and As sources. As a function of the electric field, we have investigated the photoluminescence (PL) for the InAs QDs in the Schottky diode at 300 K. We controlled the electric field in order that the QD layer was located in the depletion region of Schottky diode. The relationship between the electric field and the depletion width of the Schottky diode was deduced through the capacitance-voltage measurement. The Stark shift was observed in PL spectra for QDs; the energy of the PL line shifted to the lower energy as the electric field increased. It was also observed that the PL emission intensity gradually decreased. By the fitting to the experimental data, we determined a built-in dipole moment, corresponding to an electron-hole separation.     

Effect of thermal annealing in the microstructural and the optical properties of uncapped InAs quantum dots grown on GaAs buffer layers

The effect of thermal annealing on self-assembled uncapped InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) has been investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The TEM images showed that the lateral sizes and densities of the InAs QDs were not changed significantly up to 650 °C. When the InAs/GaAs QDs were annealed at 700 °C, while the lateral size of the InAs QDs increased, their density decreased. The InAs QDs disappeared at 800 °C. PL spectra showed that the peaks corresponding to the interband transitions of the InAs QDs shifted slightly toward the high-energy side, and the PL intensity decreased with increasing annealing temperature. These results indicate that the microstructural and the optical properties of self-assembled uncapped InAs/GaAs can be modified due to postgrowth thermal annealing.     

Tailoring of the Wave Function Overlaps and the Carrier Lifetimes in InAs/GaAs1−xSbx Type-II Quantum Dots

Effects of thermal annealing on the emission properties of type-II InAs quantum dots (QDs) covered by a thin GaAs_1−xSb_x layer are investigated by photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved PL measurements. Apart from large blueshifts and a pronounced narrowing of the QD emission peak, the annealing induced alloy intermixing also leads to enhanced radiative recombination rates and reduced localized states in the GaAs_1−xSb_x layer. We find that the type-II QD structure can sustain thermal annealing up to 850 °C. In particular, we find that it is possible to manipulate between type-I and type-II recombinations in annealed QDs by using different excitation powers. We demonstrate that postgrowth thermal annealing can be used to tailor the band alignment, the wave function overlaps, and hence the recombination dynamics in the InAs/GaAs_1−xSb_x type-II QDs.     

Microstructural and optical properties of multiple closely stacked InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dot arrays

The microstructural and the optical properties of multiple closely stacked InAs/GaAs quantum dot (QD) arrays were investigated by using atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The AFM and the TEM images showed that high-quality vertically stacked InAs QD self-assembled arrays were embedded in the GaAs barriers. The PL peak position corresponding to the interband transitions from the ground electronic subband to the ground heavy-hole band (E₁-HH₁) of the InAs/GaAs QDs shifted to higher energy with increasing GaAs spacer thickness. The activation energy of the electrons confined in the InAs QDs increased with decreasing with GaAs spacer thickness due to the coupling effect. The present results can help to improve the understanding of the microstructural and the optical in multiple closely stafcked InAs/GaAs QD arrays.     

Discrepancy between photoluminescence and photoresponse intensities in n-InAs/GaAs and InAs/n-GaAs quantum-dot heterostructures

We report a discrepancy between near-infrared photoluminescence (PL) and far-infrared photoresponse (PR) efficiencies in self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum-dot (QD) heterostructures with silicon doping in either InAs QDs or GaAs barriers. The structure with n-GaAs barriers reveals a much higher PR intensity in spite of a weaker PL intensity in comparison with n-InAs QD structure. This discrepancy is explained by differences in the electron occupation of QD sublevel associated with the Fermi-level position and in the mean free path of photogenerated carriers in GaAs barriers due to impurity scattering.     

The emission wavelength tuning of InAs/InP quantum dots with thin GaAs, InGaAs, InP capping layers by MOCVD

InAs quantum dots (QDs) were grown on InP substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The width and height of the dots were 50 and 5.8 nm, respectively on the average and an areal density of 3.0×10¹⁰ cm⁻² was observed by atomic force microscopy before the capping process. The influences of GaAs, In_0.53Ga_0.47As, and InP capping layers (5–10 ML thickness) on the InAs/InP QDs were studied. Insertion of a thin GaAs capping layer on the QDs led to a blue shift of up to 146 meV of the photoluminescence (PL) peak and an InGaAs capping layer on the QDs led to a red shift of 64 meV relative to the case when a conventional InP capping layer was used. We were able to tune the emission wavelength of the InAs QDs from 1.43 to 1.89 μm by using the GaAs and InGaAs capping layers. In addition, the full-width at half-maximum of the PL peak decreased from 79 to 26 meV by inserting a 7.5 ML GaAs layer. It is believed that this technique is useful in tailoring the optical properties of the InAs QDs at mid-infrared regime.