Blue luminescence from the InGaN multiple quantum wells

We have fabricated very high-quality In_0.13Ga_0.87N/GaN multiple quantum wells with thickness as small as on (0 0 0 1) sapphire substrate using metal organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD). We have investigated these ultra-thin multiple quantum wells by continuous wave (cw) and time resolved spectroscopy in the picosecond time scales in a wide range of temperatures from 10 K to 290 K. In the luminescence spectrum at 10 K we observed a broad peak at 3.134 eV which was attributed to the quantum wells emission of InGaN. The full-width at half-maximum of this peak was 129 meV at 10 K and the broadening at low temperatures which was mostly inhomogeneous was thought to be due to compositional fluctuations and interfacial disorder in the alloy. The ultra narrow width of the quantum well was found to have a very profound effect in increasing the emission linewidth. We also observed an intense and narrow peak at 3.471 eV due to the GaN barrier. The temperature dependence of the luminescence was studied. The peak positions and intensities of the different peaks were obtained after a careful Lorentzian analysis. The activation energy of the InGaN quantum well emission peak was estimated as 69 meV. The lifetime of the quantum well emission was found to be 720 ps at 10 K. The results were explained by considering the localization of the excitons due to potential fluctuations. At higher temperatures the non-radiative recombination was found to be very dominant.     

Photoluminescence properties of vacuum-deposited organic molecule-oxide (MePTCDI-SiO2) mixed layers

Thin films of the perylene derivative N,N′-dimethylperylene-3,4,9,10-bis-dicarboximide (MePTCDI) incorporated in SiO₂ matrix at various concentrations are obtained by condensation of host and dye in high vacuum. Photoluminescence spectroscopy is applied to study the spectral properties of the layers. Significant alterations in luminescence spectra in dependence on dye quantity are explained as a consequence of dye aggregation and resonant energy transfer. We demonstrate that the deposition geometry and preparation conditions offer an effective way to reduce the possibilities for non-radiative transitions, thus increasing the photoluminescence quantum efficiency.     

Optical properties and site distribution of Cr ions in alkali-disilicate glasses

The optical properties of the low-field sites of Cr³⁺-doped alkali (Li, Na, K) disilicate glasses have been investigated using the single configurational coordinate model. The assumption of a Gaussian site distribution for the Cr³⁺ ions taking as parameter the zero-phonon energy has been considered. For alkali disilicate glasses the inhomogeneous contribution to the broadening of the bands, associated to the site distribution, is lower than the homogeneous one. The electron-lattice coupling S and the mean phonon energy ?ω₀ have been obtained with results around 4 and 500 cm⁻¹, respectively, similar to those obtained by other authors in oxide glasses. The site-resolved study of the emission and excitation spectra and the luminescence decay curves have been carried out as a function of temperature. On the one hand, there is evidence of a non-radiative de-excitation process that becomes important over 140 K. On the other hand, and related to the site dependence of the radiative and non-radiative probabilities, different results involving low values for the quantum efficiencies and blue shifts of the emission bands as temperature increases have been explained. Besides, the non-exponential luminescence decay curves have been fitted to an expression proposed by the authors, which takes into account non-coupled distributions for the radiative and non-radiative de-excitation probabilities for the range of temperature covering from 13 to 300 K. From the fits, the temperature dependence of the non-radiative de-excitation probability is obtained for each disilicate glass, the results are in good agreement with the expression obtained assuming the harmonic approximation in the single configurational coordinate model.     

Dynamics of spins in semiconductor quantum wells under drift

The dynamics of spins in semiconductor quantum wells under applied electric bias has been investigated by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The bias-dependent polarization of PL (P_PL) was measured at different temperatures. The P_PL was found to decay with an enhancement of increasing the strength of the negative bias, with an exception occurred for a low value of the negative bias. The P_PL was also found to depend on the temperature. The P_PL in the presence of a transverse magnetic field was also studied. The results showed that P_PL in the magnetic field oscillates under an applied bias, demonstrating that the dephasing of electron spin occurs during the drift transport in semiconductor quantum wells.     

Thermoreflectance studies in CdNiTe nanocrystalline films

CdNiTe ternary semiconductor thin films were deposited using the cathodic erosion by radiofrequency technique (r.f. sputtering), on 7059 Corning glass substrates. Cd_1−xNi_xTe targets with different Ni compositions in the range 0<x<0.15 were used. Structural analysis in these samples using SEM and X-ray diffraction have shown that films are polycrystalline with grain sizes between 26 and 35 nm; for higher Ni-content, films have smaller grain sizes. As-grown samples and thermal-annealed films in an inert atmosphere at temperatures of 300 and 400 °C were studied using the thermoreflectance spectroscopy (TR) at room temperature. From these measurements the bandgap energy variation as a function of the nanocrystallite size and the annealing temperatures was obtained. From the TR spectra a systematic shift to higher energies of the E₀-point as the grain size decreases has been measured, and we have interpreted this result as due to the CdTe–Ni alloying process added to a quantum-size effect in which the nanocrystallites act as quantum dots. We discuss the TR lineshapes and their evolution with thermal annealing.     

The effect of adding a bit of Fe to Ag–Ge–Se system

Ag–Ge–Se system is an easy glass former in a wide composition range not far from the Se corner of the equilibrium phase diagram. The existence of a liquid miscibility gap impacts on the glass morphology where Ag-rich zones alternate with Ag depleted ones which size depends on composition. In order to analyze the short range order, 0.5 at.% Fe was added as a probe in the synthesis stage. Mössbauer spectra of these glasses were obtained at room and lower temperatures. Two types of environments were observed. The corresponding Debye temperatures, and the fraction of Fe atoms in each environment were determined. Additionally, magnetic moment was measured as a function of temperature and applied magnetic field. From m(H) and m(T) curves it is evident that the magnetization of the glasses has two components, i.e., a blocked one even up to room temperature that saturates at low field, and a paramagnetic one which does not saturate even at the largest applied field. The Mössbauer spectroscopy results are discussed and correlated to the morphology and magnetic behavior of these glasses.     

Photoluminescence decay times in (AlGa)As  GaAs multiple quantum well heterostructures

Measurements are reported of the photoluminescence decay rate from 55 Å GaAs(Al_0.35Ga_0.65)As multiple quantum well samples prepared by molecular beam epitaxy. Results are reported for the temperature range 4–295 K. Additional measurements of the external photoluminescence efficiency of single thin layers of (AlGa)As lead us to conclude that at the higher temperatures the lifetime in the quantum wells is limited by non-radiative recombination at or close to the (AlGa)As barriers. Following studies of the decay at 4 K we offer a possible alternative explanation of the free exciton decay mechanism to that postulated previously.     

Photoacoustic spectroscopy with quantum cascade distributed-feedback lasers

We present photoacoustic (PA) spectroscopy measurements of carbon dioxide, methanol, and ammonia. The light source for the excitation was a single-mode quantum cascade distributed-feedback laser, which was operated in pulsed mode at moderate duty cycle and slightly below room temperature. Temperature tuning resulted in a typical wavelength range of 3cm(-1)at a linewidth of 0.2cm(-1). The setup was based on a Herriott multipass arrangement around the PA cell; the cell was equipped with a radial 16-microphone array to increase sensitivity. Despite the relatively small average laser power, the ammonia detection limit was 300 parts in 10(9)by volume.     

Characteristics of time-resolved luminescence in quartz

Time-resolved luminescence measurements were performed with samples of synthetic quartz (Sawyer Premium Q) and granular quartz extracted from ceramics and sediment samples under pulsed (5 ns) laser stimulation (OPO). The luminescence was detected in the UV region using colour glass filters (FWHM 280–380 nm). The time-resolved spectrum is dominated by a single exponential decay that remains substantially unaltered when the stimulation wavelength is changed from 600 to 450 nm indicating that the same recombination process is being observed. The lifetime measured at room temperature was 40±0.6 μs for the synthetic quartz; at elevated temperatures the measured lifetime is reduced in a manner that is consistent with a competitive non-radiative recombination process (thermal quenching). An average lifetime of 33±0.3 μs was obtained for seven samples of granular quartz, indicating a common recombination process in these natural samples that differs from the value for synthetic quartz.     

Radiative and non-radiative decay of a single molecule close to a metallic nanoparticle

We study the spontaneous emission of a single emitter close to a metallic nanoparticle, with the aim to clarify the distance dependence of the radiative and non-radiative decay rates. We derive analytical formulas based on a dipole-dipole model, and show that the non-radiative decay rate follows a R⁻⁶ dependence at short distance, where R is the distance between the emitter and the center of the nanoparticle, as in Förster’s energy transfer. The distance dependence of the radiative decay rate is more subtle. It is chiefly dominated by a R⁻³ dependence, a R⁻⁶ dependence being visible at plasmon resonance. The latter is a consequence of radiative damping in the effective dipole polarizability of the nanoparticle. The different distance behavior of the radiative and non-radiative decay rates implies that the apparent quantum yield always vanishes at short distance. Moreover, non-radiative decay is strongly enhanced when the emitter radiates at the plasmon-resonance frequency of the nanoparticle.     

Quantum perturbations to the radial distribution function of a hard-sphere fluid

Expressions derived in the previous paper for quantum corrections to the radial distribution function of a fluid are applied to the hard-sphere fluid. It is found that the perturbation theory given in the paper is valid only at very high values of temperatures when applied to calculate the correction to the distribution function of the hard-sphere fluid and is not valid at the temperatures at which Gibson and others have obtained numerical results for a given value of ?a³, where ? is the number density and a the hard-sphere diameter.     

Mössbauer study of the martensitic transformation in a Ni–Fe–Ga shape memory alloy

We present the results of an extensive Mössbauer study of the magnetic and martensitic transformation at room temperature of a polycrystalline alloy with a Ni₅₅Fe₁₉Ga₂₆ nominal composition. From calorimetric measurements, we have determined the martensitic transformation temperature of T _M ≈ 240 K, in good agreement with the one obtained by magnetic characterization. This sample has a Curie temperature of T _C ≈ 287 K. Additional Curie temperatures, belonging to a γ phase, have been also detected. Mössbauer spectroscopy performed at different temperatures monitored all these transformations and the fitting of the obtained spectrum at the highest temperature allow us to give percentages of the different phases in the sample.     

Room temperature intra-band lasing in quantum dot arrays placed in high photon density cavities—a theoretical study

Intersubband (intra-band) transitions are very attractive forlong wavelength lasers due to the high degree of tailoring possible in the emission spectra. In general, if intra-band population inversion is to be created in a conduction band quantum well by carrier injection at the barrier energy, it is necessary that the electron non-radiative intra-band energy relaxation times are long. Additionally, the extraction time for the electron from the lower state should be short. In a bipolar device studied here, this means the bandedge electron-hole recombination times should be short.The use of sub-two-dimensional (2D) structures (quantum dots) allows us to increase the intra-band energy relaxation time from about a picosecond for bulk or quasi-2D systems to several hundred picoseconds at room temperatures. Also, by placing these structures in a cavity with a high photon number, it is possible to decrease the bandedge electron-hole recombination times through stimulated emission. Our studies show that strong population inversion and lasing under d.c. conditions is possible at room temperature in such systems.     

Photovoltage measurements of the energy gap in Cd1−xMnxTe

Surface photovoltage spectroscopy measurements in the spectral regions close to the energy gap have been performed for Cd_1?xMn_xTe single crystals with different compositions, in the range between room and liquid nitrogen temperatures. The dependence of the energy gap on the composition and temperature is linear.     

Lead salt quantum well diode lasers

Lead-salt diode lasers are useful for spectroscopic applications in the 2.5–30 μm wavelength range. These devices have previously required cryogenic cooling <100 K) for CW operation. The use of quantum well, large optical cavity structures has improved the operating temperatures to 174 K CW (at 4.39 μm) and to 270 K pulsed (at 3.88 μm). These diodes have a single PbTe quantum well with lattice-matched Pb_1?xEu_xSeyTe_1?y confinement layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The emission energy shifts have been calculated using a finite square well with nonparabolicity effects included. Initial work has also been done on multiple quantum well lasers. The maximum operating temperatures were comparable to those of single quantum well lasers, with leakage current and possibly Auger recombination limiting device performance.     

Fast simultaneous measurement of multi-gases using quantum cascade laser photoacoustic spectroscopy

The authors developed a fast simultaneous method in detecting multi-gases using quantum cascade laser (QCL) based photoacoustic (PA) spectroscopy. We demonstrated the simultaneous measurement of CO and SO₂ concentrations using two QCLs working at 4.56 and 7.38 μm, corresponding to the absorption bands of CO and SO₂, respectively. The modulation frequencies of the two QCLs were 234 and 244 Hz. The response time was 0.6 seconds. A computer sound card was used to process the PA signals. Fast Fourier transform was an essential step to get the amplitudes of the PA signals at different frequencies. The concentration of each gas can be obtained from the PA signal amplitude at the corresponding modulation frequency.     

Multi-color tunneling quantum dot infrared photodetectors operating at room temperature

Quantum dot structures designed for multi-color infrared detection and high temperature (or room temperature) operation are demonstrated. A novel approach, tunneling quantum dot (T-QD), was successfully demonstrated with a detector that can be operated at room temperature due to the reduction of the dark current by blocking barriers incorporated into the structure. Photoexcited carriers are selectively collected from InGaAs quantum dots by resonant tunneling, while the dark current is blocked by AlGaAs/InGaAs tunneling barriers placed in the structure. A two-color tunneling-quantum dot infrared photodetector (T-QDIP) with photoresponse peaks at 6 μm and 17 μm operating at room temperature will be discussed. Furthermore, the idea can be used to develop terahertz T-QD detectors operating at high temperatures. Successful results obtained for a T-QDIP designed for THz operations are presented. Another approach, bi-layer quantum dot, uses two layers of InAs quantum dots (QDs) with different sizes separated by a thin GaAs layer. The detector response was observed at three distinct wavelengths in short-, mid-, and far-infrared regions (5.6, 8.0, and 23.0 μm). Based on theoretical calculations, photoluminescence and infrared spectral measurements, the 5.6 and 23.0 μm peaks are connected to the states in smaller QDs in the structure. The narrow peaks emphasize the uniform size distribution of QDs grown by molecular beam epitaxy. These detectors can be employed in numerous applications such as environmental monitoring, spectroscopy, medical diagnosis, battlefield-imaging, space astronomy applications, mine detection, and remote-sensing.     

Non-radiative decay of a dipole emitter close to a metallic nanoparticle: Importance of higher-order multipole contributions

The contribution of higher-order multipoles to radiative and non-radiative decay of a single dipole emitter close to a spherical metallic nanoparticle is re-examined. Taking a Ag spherical nanoparticle (AgNP) with the radius of 5 nm as an example, a significant contribution (between 50% and 101% of the total value) of higher-order multipoles to non-radiative rates is found even at the emitter distance of 5 nm from the AgNP surface. On the other hand, the higher-order multipole contribution to radiative rates is negligible. Consequently, a dipole-dipole approximation can yield only an upper bound on the apparent quantum yield. In contrast, the non-radiative rates calculated with the quasistatic Gersten and Nitzan method are found to be in much better agreement with exact electrodynamic results. Finally, the size corrected metal dielectric function is shown to decrease the non-radiative rates near the dipolar surface plasmon resonance.     

Tuning the cross-gap transition energy of a quantum dot by uniaxial stress

We show that a piezoelectric actuator can be used to apply uniaxial stress to a layer of self-assembled quantum dots. The applied stress leads to a change of the quantum dot's ground state exciton energy by up to a few hundred μeV. This approach allows the possibility of an in situ and continuous tuning of the stress at temperatures down to 4 K and offers an alternative to tuning by temperature and Stark effect. We measure the relative change in the charging energy to the n-doped back contact by capacitance and the change in the exciton energy by photoluminescence. By tuning the uniaxial stress we are able to perform reflection spectroscopy on a single dot.