Observation of LO-phonon localization in GaAs quantum wires on faceted (311)A surfaces

The localization of longitudinal optical phonons in GaAs/AlAs lateral superlattices and quantum wires grown on faceted GaAs (311)A surfaces are investigated by means of Raman scattering spectroscopy. The frequencies of the localized phonons are found to decrease as the average thickness of the GaAs layer is decreased from 21 to 15 Å. As the GaAs thickness is decreased further to 11.3 and 8.5 Å, the frequencies of the localized phonons increases sharply in connection with the formation of an array of quantum wires. The frequencies calculated in a two-dimensional chain model agree with the experimental values. This makes it possible to interpret the increase in the frequencies of localized phonon states as being the result of the quantization of phonons in the array of one-dimensional objects. The results obtained support the model of GaAs (311)A surface faceting with a facet height of 10.2 Å. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 63, No. 12, 942–946 (25 June 1996)     

Localized optical phonons in GaAs/AlAs superlattices grown on (311)A and (311)B surfaces

A study is reported of optical vibrational modes in [311]-grown GaAs/AlAs superlattices. An analysis of the TO and LO localized modes observed in IR reflectance spectra showed that the difference between the TO and LO mode frequencies in superlattices grown on (311)A and (311)B surfaces is due to the different localization lengths of these modes. The dispersion of transverse optical phonons in GaAs derived from IR reflectance spectra is in a good agreement with Raman scattering data. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 550–552 (March 1998)     

Splitting of transverse optical phonon modes localized in GaAs quantum wires on a faceted (311)A surface

The energy splitting of fundamental localized transverse optical (TO1) phonon modes in GaAs/AlAs superlattices and quantum wires grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on a faceted (311)A GaAs surface is observed by Raman spectroscopy. The form of the Raman scattering tensor makes it possible to observe the TO_x and TO_y modes separately, using different scattering geometries the y and x axes are the directions of displacement of the atoms and are directed parallel and transverse to the facets on the (311)A surface). Enhancement of the splitting of the TO1_x and TO1_y modes is observed as the average thickness of the GaAs layers is decreased from 21 to 8.5 Å. The splitting is probably due to the effect of the corrugation of the GaAs/AlAs (311)A hetero-interface on the properties of localized phonon modes. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 66, No. 1, 45–48 (10 July 1997)     

Optical detection of magnetic resonance and of exciton-level anticrossing in quantum wells and superlattices

Recent studies of excitonic and electron-hole recombination in GaAs/AlAs quantum wells and superlattices are reported using microwave-optical spectroscopy of low-dimensional structures developed by the authors. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 888–890 (May 1999)     

Direct and spatially indirect excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs superlattices in strong magnetic fields

Luminescence and luminescence excitation spectra are used to study the energy spectrum and binding energies of direct and spatially indirect excitons in GaAs/AlaAs superlattices, with different widths of the electron and hole minibands, located in a high magnetic field perpendicular to the heterolayers. It is found that the ground state of the indirect excitons formed by electrons and holes and spatially separated between neighboring quantum wells lies between the ls ground state of the direct excitons and the continuum threshold for dissociated exciton states in the minibands. Indirect excitons in superlattices have a significant oscillator strength when the binding energy of the exciton exceeds the order of the width of the resulting miniband. The behavior of the binding energy of direct and indirect heavy hole excitons during changes in the tunneling coupling between the quantum wells is established. It is shown that a strong magnetic field, which intensifies the Coulomb interaction between the electron and hole in an exciton, weakens the bond in a system of symmetrically bound quantum wells. The spatially indirect excitons studied here are analogous to first order Wannier-Stark localized excitons in superlattices with inclined bands (when an electrical bias is applied), but in the present case the localization is of purely Coulomb origin. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 112, 1106–1118 (September 1997)     

Donor-acceptor recombination in type-II GaAs/AlAs superlattices

A study is reported of steady-and nonsteady-state photoluminescence of intentionally undoped and uniformly silicon-doped type-II (GaAs)₇(AlAs)₉ superlattices grown by MBE simultaneously on (311)A-and (100)-oriented GaAs substrates. It has been established that at elevated temperatures (160>T>30 K) the superlattice spectra are dominated by the line due to the donor-acceptor recombination between donors in the AlAs layers and acceptors located in the GaAs layers. The total carrier binding energy to the donor and acceptor in a pair has been determined. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 1734–1739 (September 1998)     

Phonon-plasmon interaction in tunneling GaAs/AlAs superlattices

The phonon-plasmon interaction in tunneling GaAs _n /AlAs _m superlattices (m=5and 6≥n≥0.6 monolayers) was studied by Raman scattering spectroscopy. The interaction of optical phonons localized in GaAs and AlAs layers with quasi-three-dimensional plasmons strengthens as the thickness of GaAs quantum wells decreases and the electronic states in the superlattices become delocalized due to tunneling. It is assumed that the plasmons also interact with the TO-like phonon modes localized in quantum islands or in thin ruffled layers.     

Photocurrent resonances in short-period AlAs/GaAs superlattices in an electric field

The photocurrent was measured as a function of the external electric field in short-period AlAs/GaAs superlattices for various photon energies. Transport resonances, whose positions do not depend on the photon energy, were observed in these dependences together with optical resonances due to interband transitions in Wannier-Stark levels. It is shown that the transport resonances are due to tunneling of photoelectrons from the p-GaAs contact region into the first level in GaAs wells located 2–5 lattice periods from the contact layer. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 159–164 (January 1999)     

Optical and electronic properties of (GaAs)n / (InAs)n(001) superlattices: LMTO-ASA approach

The optical and electronic properties of (GaAs)_n/(InAs)_n superlattices are calculated by means of LMTO-ASA method. The too small band gap problem of bulk material and superlattices is corrected by adding to the effective potentials an additional external potential that is sharply peaked at the atomic sites. The results show that the optical properties of GaAs/InAs(001) superlattices are about average of that of two bulks of GaAs and InAs.     

Anisotropy of optical phonons in semiconductor superlattices: Raman scattering experiments

Experiments on Raman scattering in the “forward” geometry, permitting observation of anisotropy of the optical phonons, are performed on specially prepared short-period GaAs/AlAs superlattice structures with the substrates removed and the surfaces covered with an antireflective layer. The experimental data agree well with the computational results obtained for the angular dispersion of optical phonons in superlattices on the basis of a modified continuum model. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 68, No. 1, 50–55 (10 July 1998)     

Polarization of hot photoluminescence in GaAs/AlAs superlattices

The polarization characteristics of hot photoluminescence in GaAs/AlAs superlattices are investigated experimentally and theoretically. It is shown that the formation of an electronic miniband in the superlattice substantially changes the polarization characteristics of the photoluminescence. As a result of the quasi-three-dimensional character of the motion of hot electrons in the superlattice, the polarization depends on the ratio of the electron kinetic energies in the plane of the superlattice and along the axis of the superlattice. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 63, No. 4, 285–289 (25 February 1996)     

Determination of the roughness of heteroboundaries from photocurrent spectra of short-period AlAs/GaAs superlattices

Photocurrent spectroscopy is used to study the nature of the roughness of heteroboundaries in (AlAs)_m/(GaAs)_n short-period superlattices (m=3−5, n=10−13) grown by molecularbeam epitaxy. The formation of minibands broadens the optical spectra of superlattices in comparison with isolated quantum wells; therefore to analyze the degree of perfection of the boundaries we used the decay of the minibands into a series of discrete Wannier-Stark levels in an electric field parallel to the superlattice axis. Exciton lines were observed in the photocurrent spectra in an electric field corresponding to direct and indirect (in space) transitions between the Wannier-Stark levels. Comparison of experimental data with calculation indicates that even in the better structures, in addition to monotonic variation of the thickness of the layers over area, roughnesses in the heteroboundaries one monolayer in height are present with characteristic lateral dimension not exceeding 10 nm. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 2085–2089 (November 1997)     

Raman spectroscopy of resonance exciton tunneling in GaAs/AlAs superlattices in electric fields

Optical-resonance-Raman scattering by acoustic phonons is used to study the effect of an electric field on the state of excitons in GaAs/AlAs superlattices. When the energy of the exciting photon coincides with the energy of an exciton bound to Wannier-Stark states of a heavy hole and electron with Δn=0,±1, the acoustic Raman scattering is enhanced. Oscillations in the intensity of the Raman spectrum in the electric field are explained by resonance delocalization of the exciton ground state as it interacts with Wannier-Stark states of neighboring quantum wells or with Wannier-Stark states of a higher electron miniband. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 827–829 (May 1998)     

Anharmonicity of Bloch oscillations in GaAs/AlAs superlattices in the case of inhomogeneously broadened excitonic states in a weak electric field

The variation of the spectral shape of the four-wave mixing signal in GaAs/AlGaAs superlattices was studied experimentally and theoretically. It was shown that in an external electric field, leading to anti-crossing of the levels of heavy and light excitons, sawtooth oscillations of the energy position of the levels are observed. These oscillations are due to the inhomogeneous broadening of the states participating in the Bloch oscillations. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 67, No. 10, 820–825 (25 May 1998)     

Resonant optical orientation and alignment of excitons in superlattices

Exciton states in short-period GaAs/AlGaAs superlattices have been studied by optical orientation and optical dipole-moment alignment methods. The effect of magnetic field in the Faraday and Voigt geometries on the degree of linear and circular polarization of photoluminescence have been studied under resonant and nonresonant excitation. The constants of electron-hole exchange interaction in the exciton have been determined. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 2229–2235 (December 1998)     

Temperature-induced delocalization of excitations in GaAs/AlAs type-II superlattices

This paper describes investigations of the photoluminescence spectra of heterostructures containing short-period type-II GaAs/AlAs superlattices grown both within the regime where the heterojunction is smoothed, and in a regime where it is not smoothed, in the temperature range 10–40 K. A quantitative analysis of the experimental data shows that the quenching of exciton luninescence in the majority of cases is characterized by a single value of the activation energy E ₂=8±1 meV which coincides with the value of the binding energy of an X-Γ exciton. It is concluded that the primary reason for quenching in this temperature interval is thermal dissociation of the exciton into a pair of free carriers whose delocalization is accompanied by nonradiative recombination at traps. It is observed that smoothing the heterojunction leads to an increase in the probability of quenching by 1–2 orders of magnitude on the average. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 1140–1146 (June 1998)     

Effect of the coherence of free electron-hole pairs on excitonic absorption in GaAs/AlGaAs superlattices

The effect of photoexcited free carriers on the absorption spectra dynamics of GaAs/Al_xGa_1−x As superlattices is investigated experimentally by the pump-probe method. A sharp change in the shift of the excitonic resonance energy from the low-to the high-energy direction is found to occur at the moment that the electromagnetic radiation of the pump and probe beams overlap in the case of band-band excitation. This phenomenon is explained in a model of scattering of high-energy electron-hole pairs. The dephasing time of free high-energy particles is experimentally estimated to be several tens of femtoseconds. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 67, No. 1, 62–67 (10 January 1998)     

High resolution x-ray diffractometry of the structural characteristics of a semiconducting (InGa)As/GaAs superlattice

A statistical approach is used to construct a kinematic theory of x-ray diffraction on a semiconducting superlattice with a two layer period. This theory takes two types of structural deformations into account: crystal lattice defects caused by microdefects distributed chaotically over the thickness of the superlattice, and periodicity defects of an additional superlattice potential owing to random deviations in the thicknesses of the layers of its period from specified values. Numerical simulation is used to illustrate the effect of structural defects on the development of the diffraction reflection curve. The theory is used to analyze experimental x-ray diffraction spectra of semiconducting In_xGa_1−x As/GaAs superlattices. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 44–53 (February 1999)     

1MeV Si+衬底加温注入Al0.3Ga0.7As/GaAs超晶格和GaAs的晶格损伤研究

用卢瑟福背散射／沟道技术研究了１ＭｅＶＳｉ⁺在衬底加温和室温下以不同剂量注入Ａｌ_0.3Ｇ_0.7Ａｓ／ＧａＡｓ超晶格和ＧａＡｓ后的晶格损伤。在衬底加温下，观察到Ａｌ_0.3Ｇａ_0.7Ａｓ／ＧａＡｓ超晶格和ＧａＡｓ都存在一个动态退火速率与缺陷产生速率相平衡的剂量范围，以及两种速率失去平衡的临界剂量。超晶格比ＧａＡｓ更难以损伤，并且它的两种速率失去平衡的临界剂量也大于ＧａＡｓ中的相应临界剂量，用热尖峰与碰撞模型解释了晶格损伤积累与注入剂量和衬底温度的关系。用ＣＮＤＯ／２量子化学方法计算了ＧａＡｓ和Ａｌ_xＧａ_1-xＡｓ中化学键的相对强度，并根据计算结果解释了注入过程中Ａｌ_0.3Ｇａ_0.7Ａｓ／ＧａＡｓ超晶格和ＧａＡｓ中晶格损伤程度的差别。 关键词：     

Above-barrier excitons: First magnetooptic investigation

An above-barrier localized excitonic state in a Bragg confining semiconductor superstructure based on an (In, Ga)As/GaAs heterosystem is observed experimentally. A sharp excitonic resonance corresponding to the interference mechanism of localization is observed in the absorption spectrum of this structure at 1.548 eV, i.e., 33 meV above the energy of a bulk exciton in GaAs. The oscillator strength of the above-barrier exciton is twice that of the main excitonic state in the system, and the above-barrier exciton gives rise to sharp Landau oscillations in the magnetoabsorption spectra. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 69, No. 10, 727–732 (25 May 1999)