Technology of the (Al,Ga)As/GaAs double heterostructure lasers

Conclusion Even thqugh the LPE growth of (Al,Ga)As layers is now largely a matter of industrial development or routine, there still remain some problems that need fundamental study. We have pointed to two of them: growth of very thin layers and the influence of ambient atmosphere. The problem of automation of the growth process, while being connected with industrial LPE installations, also has a bearing on the fundamental research, e.g. it is important for reproducible preparation of very thin layers.We did not include in this paper work done in our laboratories in the field of integrated optics. A hybrid combination of DH coherent source with a MESFET GaAs device has been tested; integrated version of this optoelectronic circuit is in preparation.Invited talk at the International Conference on Radiative Recombination and Related Phenomena in III–V Compound Semiconductors, Prague, 4–7 October, 1983.     

Scattering mechanisms in (Al, Ga)As/GaAs 2DEG structures

We have prepared a large number of high mobility two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) structures, with undoped spacer thicknesses ranging from 9 to 3200Å. For samples with 400Å of (Al, Ga)As Si-doped at 1.3×10¹⁸ cm⁻³, there is a peak in the 4K mobility at spacers of 400–800Å, with a maximum value of 2×10⁶ cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹. Increasing the thickness of the doped (Al, Ga)As to 500Å produced an increase in mobility to 3×10⁶ cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ for a 400Å space sample. We have compared these results with published analyses of scattering processes in 2DEG structures, and conclude that a combination of ionised impurity and acoustic phonon scattering gives a qualitative explanation of the behaviour, but that the experimental mobility values are generally higher than those predicted theoretically.     

Optical investigations of GaAs/Ga1−x Al x As Quantum wells grown by molecular-beam epitaxy

Summary Measurements of photoluminescence, excitation photoluminescence and reflectance are performed at various temperatures on a series of GaAs/Ga_1−x Al _x As quantum well structures grown by molecularbeam epitaxy. The selective photoluminescence data of the GaAs buffer layers are analysed in order to correlate the optical properties with the growth conditions. The Stokes shift of the excitation emission line from quantum wells is investigated under various excitation conditions. A considerable decrease of the Stokes shift is observed in the case of nonresonant and intense excitations. Also the extrinsic photoluminescence, as well as its temperature dependence, are interpreted. In addition, the temperature effects on both the bulk and quantum well spectra are shown to clarify the excitation features and the contribution of the interband transitions. To speed up publication, the authors of this paper has agreed to not receive the proofs for correction.     

Energy sublevels in an Al0.5Ga0.5As/GaAs/Al0.5Ga0.5As quantum wire

We report the successful fabrication of a V-grooveAl_0.5Ga_0.5As/GaAs/Al_0.5Ga_0.5As quantum wire system and the temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) measurement. The PL spectra are dominated by four features at 681, 642, 635 and 621 nm attributed to the luminescences from quantum wire, top, vertical and side-wall well regions by micro-PL measurements. By the calculations of the energy structure, discrete states (localized sublevels) in the quantum wire region and continuum states (extended along the side-wall and vertical quantum wells) in side-wall and vertical quantum wells have been obtained in both the conduction and valence bands. The calculated excitation energies explain very well the peak positions and their temperature dependence in the photoluminescence measurements.     

Investigation of various optical transitions in GaAs/Al0.3Ga0.7As double quantum ring grown by droplet epitaxy

This work examines the optical transitions of a GaAs double quantum ring (DQR) embedded in Al_0.3Ga_0.7As matrix by photoreflectance spectroscopy (PR). The GaAs DQR was grown by droplet epitaxy (DE). The optical properties of the DQR were investigated by excitation‐intensity and temperature‐dependent PR. The various optical transitions were observed in PR spectra, whereas the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum shows only the DQR and GaAs band emissions. The various optical transitions were identified for the GaAs near‐band‐edge transition, surface confined state (SCS), DQR confined state, wetting layer (WL), spin–orbital split (E_GaAs + Δ_o), and AlGaAs band transition. PR spectroscopy can identify various optical transitions that are invisible in PL. The PR results show that the GaAs/AlGaAs DQR has complex electronic structures due to the various interfaces resulting from DE.     

Weak localization in Al0.25Ga0.75As/In0.2Ga0.8As/GaAs wires

The phase coherence length L_Ø, its temperature dependence and the spin-orbit scattering length L_SO in Al_0.25Ga_0.75As/In_0.2Ga_0.8As/GaAs wires fabricated by electron-beam lithography and CH₄/H₂ Reactive Ion Etching (RIE), were extracted by fitting a 1-dimensional weak localization theory to two-terminal measurements in the temperature range between 2 K and 50 K. The scattering mechanism was found to be Nyquist (electron-electron collisions with small energy transfer).     

Shallow donors in extended state GaAs/(Al,Ga) As superlattices

We have studied the effect of superlattice structure on the 1s to 2p⁺ transition energy of shallow donors. In a strong magnetic field along the growth direction the transition is inhomogeneously broadened with absorption features that can be correlated with the position of the donor with respect to the barriers and wells. The results compare well with recent theory of donors in superlattices and are potentially important for the determination of donor distributions in superlattices.     

Very large tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance of a (Ga,Mn)As/GaAs/(Ga,Mn)As stack

We report the discovery of a very large tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance in an epitaxially grown (Ga,Mn)As/GaAs/(Ga,Mn)As structure. The key novel spintronics features of this effect are as follows: (i) both normal and inverted spin-valve-like signals; (ii) a large nonhysteretic magnetoresistance for magnetic fields perpendicular to the interfaces; (iii) magnetization orientations for extremal resistance are, in general, not aligned with the magnetic easy and hard axis; (iv) enormous amplification of the effect at low bias and temperatures.     

Beryllium diffusion across GaAs/(Al,Ga)As heterojunctions and GaAs/AlAs superlattices during MBE growth

Beryllium diffusion during MBE growth of (Al, Ga)As layers, (Al, Ga)As/GaAs heterojunctions and GaAs/AlAs superlattices has been studied by electrochemical C-V and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) concentration profiling, in conjunction with transmission electron microscopy. Diffusion times were comparatively short since they were limited to part of the growth sequence, so non-equilibrium effects had a significant influence. The results are consistent with an interstitial-substitutional mechanism in which lattice site incorporation becomes more difficult with increasing band gap enthalpy. Incorporation involves a kick-out reaction which leads to the observed disordering of the superlattices.     

Diffusion thermopower of (Ga,Mn)As/GaAs tunnel junctions

We report the observation of tunneling anisotropic magnetothermopower, a voltage response to a temperature difference across an interface between a normal and a magnetic semiconductor. The resulting voltage is related to the energy derivative of the density of states in the magnetic material, and thus has a strongly anisotropic response to the direction of magnetization in the material. The effect will have relevance to the operation of semiconductor spintronic devices, and may indeed already play a role in correctly interpreting the details of some earlier spin injection studies.     

Negative and persistent photoconductivity in p-type Al0.5Ga0.5As/GaAs/Al0.5Ga0.5As heterostructures under uniaxial stress

Abstract

Illumination of a double p-Al_0.5Ga_0.5As/GaAs/Al_0.5Ga_0.5As heterostructure by a red light emitting diode results in a negative photoconductivity that, after the diode is switched off, slowly relaxes to a positive persistent photoconductivity, characterised by an approximately 1.5-fold increase of the two-dimensional hole concentration. This metastable state may be explained with a model in which deep electron traps are supposed to be located above the Fermi level on the inverted heterointerface. Under uni-axial compression the hole concentration in the persistent photoconductivity state, as well as in the dark state, demonstrates the same linear decrease.     

Current-driven magnetization reversal in a ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As/GaAs/(Ga,Mn)As tunnel junction

Current-driven magnetization reversal in a ferromagnetic semiconductor based (Ga,Mn)As/GaAs/(Ga,Mn)As magnetic tunnel junction is demonstrated at 30 K. Magnetoresistance measurements combined with current pulse application on a rectangular 1.5 x 0.3 microm2 device revealed that magnetization switching occurs at low critical current densities of 1.1-2.2 x 10(5) A/cm2 despite the presence of spin-orbit interaction in the p-type semiconductor system. Possible mechanisms responsible for the effect are discussed.     

Decomposition of 1/f noise in Al(x)Ga(1-x)As/GaAs Hall devices

We present a systematic study of the low-frequency noise in micron and submicron Hall devices made from Al(x)Ga(1-x)As/GaAs heterostructures. In a sample with feature size as small as 0.45 microm we observe a nonmonotonic temperature dependence of the noise power spectral densities (PSD's) at temperatures where surface states and deep-level excitations are frozen out. Near the temperature where the noise peaks, the PSD's can be described by a thermally activated two-level random telegraph signal, i.e., the 1/f noise originating from switching events in the highly doped Al(x)Ga(1-x) layer is resolved into a single Lorentzian spectrum.     

The electronic structure of modulation-doped In0.53Ga0.47As/n-In0.52Al0.48As heterostructure

Summary The subband structure of modulation-doped InGaAs/InAlAs heterostructures is calculated in a variational self-consistent manner. The dependence on various device parameters is examined. The many-body exchange correlation effects are taken into account.