Below-bandgap refractive index of AlAs/GaAs multiple quantum wells

Precision reflection measurements were performed on GaAs/AlAs superlattices of the same composition but different layer spacings. Nonlinear-least-squares fits to the data were performed to a single layer. Measurements were extracted for the superlattice thickness, thickness of a disturbed interface layer between the superlattice and substrate, the uniformity in composition and/or spacing and the composition. It was demonstrated that these nondestructive measurements in the infrared region (3000 to 12 000 cm^–1) in conjunction with a simple single layer model are capable of accurately yielding the above quantities with high precision.     

Exciton oscillator strength in GaAs/AlAs superlattices near type I-type II transition

We present resonance reflectivity measurements performed on graded GaAs/AlAs superlattices in the transitional region from type I to type II. A theory of exciton states and exciton oscillator strength is developed making allowance for the mixing of Γ₁, X₁ and X₃ electron states in the superlattice. Experimental and theoretical results are compared taking into account effects of superlattice imperfections.     

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.     

Intra-acceptor hole relaxation in Be δ-doped GaAs/AlAs multiple quantum wells

This paper studies the dynamics of intra-acceptor hole relaxation in Be δ -doped GaAs/AlAs multiple quantum wells (MQW) with doping at the centre by time-resolved pump-probe spectroscopy using a picosecond free electron laser for infrared experiments. Low temperature far-infrared absorption measurements clearly show three principal absorption lines due to transitions of the Be acceptor from the ground state to the first three odd-parity excited states respectively. The pump-probe experiments are performed at different temperatures and different pump pulse wavelengths. The hole relaxation time from 2p excited state to 1s ground state in MQW is found to be much shorter than that in bulk GaAs, and shown to be independent of temperature but strongly dependent on wavelength. The zone-folded acoustic phonon emission and slower decay of the wavefunctions of impurity states are suggested to account for the reduction of the 2p excited state lifetime in MQW. The wavelength dependence of the 2p lifetime is attributed to the diffusion of the Be atom δ -layer in quantum wells.     

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.     

Hot electron energy and momentum relaxation in GaAs/AlAs and GaAs/Ga1-xAlxAs multiple quantum wells

Experimental results on high electric field longitudinal transport in GaAs/AlAs and GaAs/Ga_1-xAl_xAs multiple quantum wells (MQW) are presented and compared with the prediction of a dielectric continuum model. We draw from our experiments the following four conclusions.(i) In GaAs/Ga_1-xAl_xAs systems the dominant energy and momentum relaxation mechanism is through scattering with GaAs -modes.(ii) However, in GaAs/AlAs systems the AlAs interface mode is dominant in relaxing the energy and momentum of the quantum well electrons.(iii) The hot electron momentum relaxation as obtained from the high-field drift velocity experiments is strongly affected by the production of hot phonons as expected from a model involving a non-drifting hot phonon distribution.(iv) The importance of the AlAs interface mode in GaAs/Ga_1-xAl_xAs MQW is not the result of the intrinsic scattering rate but related to its shorter lifetime, compared to GaAs modes.     

Giant population inversion of hot electrons in GaAs/AlAs type heterostructures with quantum wells

The heating of electrons in an Al_xGa_1−x As/GaAs (x>0.42) heterostructure in a lateral (directed along the heterointerfaces) electric field is studied. Population inversion on the size-quantization subbands of the Γ valley of GaAs and a giant population inversion between the X-valley states of Al_xGa_1−x As and Γ-valley states of GaAs are predicted. The possibility of using these inversions for achieving stimulated IR emission is discussed. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 68, No. 1, 73–77 (10 July 1998)     

Optical pumping of nuclear spin magnetization in GaAs/AlAs quantum wells of variable electron density

We report the use of time-resolved Faraday rotation to induce and probe the polarization of nuclear spins within a set of quantum wells with varying background electron density. The electron density was controlled over a broad range by making use of structures of mixed type-I/type-II GaAs/AlAs quantum wells that spatially separate photoexcited electron–hole pairs. We find that the optically detected nuclear magnetic field decreases quasi-monotonically with increasing electron density. The likely factors responsible for this behavior are increased electron spin-lattice relaxation, increased electron spin delocalization, and dilution of the electron spin polarization.     

Pressure effect on the electron mobility in AlAs/GaAs quantum wells

By taking the influence of optical phonon modes into account, this paper adopts the dielectric continuum phonon model and force balance equation to investigate the electronic mobility parallel to the interfaces for AlAs/GaAs semiconductor quantum wells (QWs) under hydrostatic pressure. The scattering from confined phonon modes, interface phonon modes and half-space phonon modes are analysed and the dominant scattering mechanisms in wide and narrow QWs are presented. The temperature dependence of the electronic mobility is also studied in the temperature range of optical phonon scattering being available. It is shown that the electronic mobility reduces obviously as pressure increases from 0 to 4GPa, the confined longitudinal optical (LO) phonon modes play an important role in wide QWs, whereas the interface optical phonon modes are dominant in narrow QWs, the half-space LO phonon modes hardly influence the electronic mobility expect for very narrow QWs.     

Study of Be δ-doped GaAs/AlAs multiple quantum wells by the surface photovoltage spectroscopy

We report a surface photovoltage and differential surface photovoltage (DSPV) study of Be δ-doped GaAs/AlAs multiple quantum wells (QWs) with widths ranging from 3 to 20 nm and sheet doping densities from 2 × 10¹⁰ to 2.5 × 10¹² cm⁻² per well aiming to characterize their electronic properties and structural quality. From a line shape analysis of room temperature DSPV spectra the interband excitonic transition energies and broadening parameters for a large number of QW-related subbands have been established. A study of well-width and quantum number dependencies of the excitonic linewidths allowed us to evaluate the various broadening contributions to the spectral line shapes in QWs of different design. It was found that an average half monolayer well-width fluctuations are the dominant broadening mechanism of the excitonic line for QWs thinner than 10 nm. In QWs thicker than 10 nm, the spectral line broadening originates mainly from thermal broadening as well as Stark broadening due to random electric fields of ionized impurities and exciton scattering by free holes.