Structural and optical properties of In0.5Ga0.5As/GaAs quantum dots in an In0.1Ga0.9As well using repeated depositions of InAs/GaAs short-period superlattices for the application of optical communication

We report structural and optical properties of In_0.5Ga_0.5As/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) in a 100 Å-thick In_0.1Ga_0.9As well grown by repeated depositions of InAs/GaAs short-period superlattices with atomic force microscope, transmission electron microscope (TEM) and photoluminescence (PL) measurement. The QDs in an InGaAs well grown at 510 °C were studied as a function of n repeated deposition of 1 monolayer thick InAs and 1 monolayer thick GaAs for n=5–10. The heights, widths and densities of dots are in the range of 6–22.0 nm, 40–85 nm, and 1.6–1.1×10¹⁰/cm², respectively, as n changes from 5 to 10 with strong alignment along [1 −1 0] direction. Flat and pan-cake-like shape of the QDs in a well is found in TEM images. The bottoms of the QDs are located lower than the center of the InGaAs well. This reveals that there was intermixing—interdiffusion—of group III materials between the InGaAs QD and the InGaAs well during growth. All reported dots show strong 300 K-PL spectrum, and 1.276 μm (FWHM: 32.3 meV) of 300 K-PL peak was obtained in case of 7 periods of the QDs in a well, which is useful for the application to optical communications.     

Effect of the electron population on intraband absorption in InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots

We present a comprehensive study of the intraband transitions in n-type InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) with a filling varying from 0.5 to 4 electrons per dot, using both polarization-dependent absorption and photocurrent spectroscopy. Applying these complementary mid- and far-infrared spectroscopies over a wide energy range allows us to obtain a detailed picture of the intraband transitions and energy levels in self-assembled QDs.     

Magnetooptical investigations of single self assembled In0.3Ga0.7As quantum dots

We present results from magnetooptical investigations of large elongated single self assembled In_0.3Ga_0.7As quantum dots with a low surface density of . Compared to conventional In_0.6Ga_0.4As quantum dots the dimension of the investigated dots is enlarged by nearly one order of magnitude using a low strain In_0.3Ga_0.7As nucleation layer. In addition, the exciton exhibits a smaller g-factor of 0–0.4 and a larger diamagnetic coefficient of 20– in Faraday geometry, reflecting the increased extension of the exciton wavefunction, with respect to In_0.6Ga_0.4As quantum dots. From power dependent investigations we observe biexciton binding energies ranging from 1.7 to 1.9 meV. Excited state emission appears typically 2–5 meV above the ground state which is consistent with the increased dimensions of the structure. Furthermore we find linear polarization degrees of up to 0.6 from exciton emission of the elongated quantum dot structure.     

Spectroscopy on single columns of vertically aligned InAs quantum dots

We have investigated the carrier relaxation dynamics in single columns of tenfold stacked vertically aligned InAs quantum dots by micro-photoluminescence measurement. The excitation spectrum in the stacked dots is much different from that in the single dot characterized by the existence of a zero-absorption region and sharp multiple phonon emission lines. We have observed a broad continuum absorption far below the wetting layer band edge in the spectrum of the single columns although we have confirmed the existence of a zero-absorption region in the same sample with reduced number of dot layers to almost single, realized by surface etching. The broad absorption feature suggests the existence of additional carrier relaxation channels through non-resonant tunneling between the dots.     

Optical transitions of InAs/In0.36Ga0.64As/GaAs(311B) surface quantum dots clearly identified by the piezoreflectance technique

The bilayer InAs/In_0.36Ga_0.64As/GaAs(311B) quantum dots (QDs), including one InAs buried quantum dot (BQD) layer and the other InAs surface quantum dot (SQD) layer, have been grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The optical properties of these three samples have been studied by the piezoreflectance (PzR) spectroscopy. The PzR spectra do not exhibit only the optical transitions originated from the InAs BQDs, but the features originated from the InAs SQDs. After the InAs SQDs have been removed chemically, those optical transitions from InAs SQDs have been demonstrated clearly by investigating the PzR spectra of the residual InAs BQDs in these samples. The great redshift of these interband transitions of InAs SQDs has been well discussed. Due to the suitable InAs SQD sizes and the thickness of In_0.36Ga_0.64As layer, the interband transition of InAs SQDs has been shifted to ∼1.55 μm at 77 K.     

Carrier hopping in InAs/AlyGa1−yAs quantum dot heterostructures: effects on optical and laser properties

The optical properties of InAs/Al_yGa_1−yAs self-assembled quantum dots are studied as a function of temperature from 10 K to room temperature. The temperature dependence of carrier hopping between dots is discussed in terms of the depth of the dot confinement potential and the dispersion in dot size and composition. We show that carrier hopping between dots influences both the electrical and optical properties of laser devices having dots as active medium.     

Electromodulation spectroscopy of In0.53Ga0.47As/In0.53Ga0.23Al0.24As quantum wells

In_0.53Ga_0.47As/In_0.53Ga_0.23Al_0.24As quantum wells (QWs) of various widths have been grown by molecular beam epitaxy on the InP substrate and investigated by electromodulation spectroscopy, i.e. photoreflectance (PR) and contactless electroreflectance (CER). The optical transitions related to the QW barrier and the QW ground and excited states have been clearly observed in PR and CER spectra. The experimental QW transition energies have been compared with theoretical predictions based on an effective mass formalism model. A good agreement between experimental data and theoretical calculations has been observed when the conduction band offset for the In_0.53Ga_0.47As/In_0.53Ga_0.23Al_0.24As interface equals 60%. In addition, it has been concluded that the conduction band offset for the In_0.53Ga_0.23Al_0.24As/InP interface is close to zero. The obtained results show that InGa(Al)As alloys are very promising materials in the band gap engineering for structures grown on InP substrate.     

Photoexcited carrier dynamics in aligned InAs/GaAs quantum dots grown on strain-relaxed InGaAs layers

Carrier dynamics in aligned InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) grown on cross-hatched patterns induced by metastable In_xGa_1−xAs layers have been studied by time-resolved photoluminescence. The low-temperature carrier lifetimes were found to be of the order of 100–200 ps and determined by carrier trapping and nonradiative recombination. Comparisons with control “nonaligned” InAs QDs show remarkable differences in dependence of peak PL intensities on excitation power, and in PL decay times dependences on both temperature and excitation intensities. Possible origin of traps, which determine the carrier lifetimes, is discussed.     

Band offsets in In0.15Ga0.85As/ GaAs and In0.15Ga0.85As/Al0.15Ga0.85As studied by photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence

Photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence measurements of strained undoped In_0.15Ga_0.85As/GaAs and In_0.15Ga_0.85As/Al_0.15Ga_0.85As quantum well structures with emission lines attributed to the first electron–first heavy hole and first electron–first light hole excitonic transitions have been analysed theoretically within the eight-band effective mass approximation. For In_0.15Ga_0.85As/GaAs the results are consistent with either type I or type II alignment of the light hole band. In the case of In_0.15Ga_0.85As/Al_0.15Ga_0.85As our results indicate type II alignment for the light hole band and offset ratio ofQ = 0.83.     

Optical transitions and carrier dynamics in self-organized InAs quantum dots grown on In0.52Al0.48As/InP(0 0 1)

Optical transitions in self-organized InAs quantum dots (QDs) grown on In_0.52Al_0.48As layer lattice matched to InP(0 0 1) substrate, have been studied by continuous wave (cw) photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved PL. The dependence of the PL transition on excitation power and photoluminescence excitation measurements clearly shows that the multi-component cw-PL spectrum is related to emission coming from ground and related excited states of QDs with heights varying by monolayer fluctuations. While decay times measured by time-resolved PL are in the nanosecond range for the ground states, shorter decay times related to relaxation of carriers down directly to the ground state are determined for the excited states.     

Annealing of In0.45Ga0.55As/GaAs quantum dots overgrown with large monolayer (11 ML) coverage for applications in thermally stable optoelectronic devices

The effects of thermal annealing on the large monolayer (11 ML) coverage of In_0.45Ga_0.55As/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) is being investigated in this study. Low temperature (8 K) photoluminescence (PL) spectra exhibits suppressed blueshift of the strongest PL emission peak even at high temperature annealing (800 °C). TEM and DCXRD characterizations showed the existence of the dots with good crystalline quality at annealing temperatures of 800-850 °C. The physics of annealing induced compositional modification of the InGaAs QDs with various monolayer coverage has been studied by a theoretical model and simulation. All our studies establish the thermal stability of large ML coverage InGaAs QDs, which is desirable for optoelectronic devices required for selective wavelength tuning in specific applications.     

The polaronic nature of intraband relaxation in InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots

Polaron relaxation processes in a series of n-type InAs quantum dots (QDS) have been investigated using energy-dependent far-infrared pump–probe spectroscopy. For energies up to 53 meV, polarons decay to 2 longitudinal acoustic phonons; above this energy additional decay channels open resulting in a reduction of the decay time. Inter-state transfer has been observed between closely spaced p-like excited states, with the measured transfer times in good agreement with calculations assuming acoustic phonon assisted transfer. Finally, for QDs containing 2 electrons we observe evidence of a spin-flip process resulting in long (700 ps) relaxation times.     

Annealing effect on the optical properties in Si delta-doped Al0.24Ga0.76As/In0.15Ga0.85As/GaAs pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor structures

The optical properties of Si delta-doped Al_0.24Ga_0.76As/In_0.15Ga_0.85As/GaAs pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor structure (PHEMTs) are estimated after the process of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) in the temperature range 500–750°C. After layer intermixing and decrease of 2DEG densities of PHEMTs just occurs around the annealing temperature of 650°C, the 12H transition peak at 1.354 eV above the annealing temperature of 650°C is newly observed from the photoluminescence (PL) and photoreflectance (PR) spectra. From the results of PL and PR measurements in the annealed PHEMTs, it is found that remarkable modification of band profile in InGaAs QW occur at annealing temperature above 650°C.     

Effect of deposition period on structural and optical properties of InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots formed by InAs/GaAs short-period superlattices

Structural and optical properties of In_0.5Ga_0.5As/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) grown at 510 °C by atomic layer molecular beam epitaxy technique are studied as a function of n repeated deposition of 1-ML-thick InAs and 1-ML-thick GaAs. Cross-sectional images reveal that the QDs are formed by single large QDs rather than closely stacked InAs QDs and their shape is trapezoidal. In the image, existence of wetting layers is not clear. In 300 K-photoluminescence (PL) spectra of InGaAs QDs (n=5), 4 peaks are resolved. Origin of each peak transition is discussed. Finally, it was found that the PL linewidths of atomic layer epitaxy (ALE) QDs were weakly sensitive to cryostat temperatures (16–300 K). This is attributed to the nature of ALE QDs; higher uniformity and weaker wetting effect compared to SK QDs.     

Photoluminescence and optical absorption properties of silicon quantum dots embedded in Si-rich silicon nitride matrices

Silicon nitride (SiN_x) films were prepared with a gas mixture of SiH₄ and NH₃ on Si wafers using the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and infrared absorption have been used to reveal the existence of the Si quantum dots (Si QDs) and to determine the chemical composition of the silicon nitride layers. The optical properties of these structures were studied by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and indicate that emission mechanisms are dominated by confined excitons within Si QDs. The peak position of PL could be controlled in the wavelength range from 1.5 to 2.2 eV by adjusting the flow rates of ammonia and silane gases. Absorbance spectra obtained in the transmission mode reveal optical absorption from Si QDs, which is in good correlation with PL properties. These results have implications for future nanomaterial deposition controlling and device applications.     

Investigation of populated InAs/GaAs quantum dots by photoluminescence and photoreflectance

We studied self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots by contrasting photoluminescence and photoreflectance spectra from 10 K to room temperature. The photoluminescence spectral profiles comprise contributions from four equally separated energy levels of InAs quantum dots. The emission profiles involving ground state and excited states have different temperature evolution. Abnormal spectral narrowing occurred above 200 K. In the photoreflectance spectra, major features corresponding to the InAs wetting layer and GaAs layers were observed. Temperature dependences of spectral intensities of these spectral features indicate that they originate from different photon-induced modulation mechanisms. Considering interband transitions of quantum dots were observed in photoluminescence spectra and those of wetting layer were observed in photoreflectance profiles, we propose that quantum dot states of the system are occupied up to the fourth energy level which is below the wetting layer quantum state.     

Electromodulation of the interband and intraband absorption of Ge/Si self-assembled islands

We have investigated the interband and the intraband absorption properties of Ge/Si self-assembled islands. The investigated structure consists of a p–i–n junction containing Ge/Si self-assembled islands embedded in a Si_0.98Ge_0.02 waveguiding layer. The variation of transmission associated with carrier injection under forward bias is monitored both in the near-infrared and in the mid-infrared spectral ranges. We show that the carrier injection leads to an absorption resonant at 185 meV which is polarized along the growth axis of the islands. This transition corresponds to an intraband optical transition from the island ground states to the two-dimensional wetting layer states. This assignment is supported by a two-dimensional band structure calculation performed in a 14 band k·p formalism. Meanwhile, the carrier injection leads to a bleaching of the interband absorption. We show that this electroabsorption spectroscopy is a useful tool for the study of self-assembled islands that is complementary of standard photoluminescence, electroluminescence or absorption spectroscopies.     

Luminescence study of Si/Ge quantum dots

We present a photoluminescence (PL) study of Ge quantum dots embedded in Si. Two different types of recombination processes related to the Ge quantum dots are observed in temperature-dependent PL measurements. The Ge dot-related luminescence peak near 0.80 eV is ascribed to the spatially indirect recombination in the type-II band lineup, while a high-energy peak near 0.85 eV has its origin in the spatially direct recombination. A transition from the spatially indirect to the spatially direct recombination is observed as the temperature is increased. The PL dependence of the excitation power shows an upshift of the Ge quantum dot emission energy with increasing excitation power density. The blueshift is ascribed to band bending at the type-II Si/Ge interface at high carrier densities. Comparison is made with results derived from measurements on uncapped samples. For these uncapped samples, no energy shifts due to excitation power or temperatures are observed in contrast to the capped samples.     

Effect of In and Al interdiffusion on electron states and light absorption in InxGa1? x As/AlyGa1? y As quantum dots

A new method of theoretical investigation of the interdiffusion effect on electron states in quantum dots is proposed. The main point of the method is the replacement of the “veritable” confining potential formed due to the diffusion by a model potential, for which the Schr?dinger equation solutions and the energy spectrum are known. In the framework of the proposed method we calculate the positions of edges of the conduction and heavy hole bands and the absorption coefficient of interband transitions depending on the diffusion length in spherical In_xGa_1−x As/Al_yGa_1−y As quantum dots, using the Wood-Saxon potential as a model one. Original Russian Text ? V.N. Mughnetsyan, A.A. Kirakosyan, 2007, published in Izvestiya NAN Armenii, Fizika, 2007, Vol. 42, No. 2, pp. 83–91.     

Effect of GaAs(1 0 0) 2° surface misorientation on the formation and optical properties of MOCVD grown InAs quantum dots

The influence of GaAs(1 0 0) 2° substrate misorientation on the formation and optical properties of InAs quantum dots (QDs) has been studied in compare with dots on exact GaAs(1 0 0) substrates. It is shown that, while QDs on exact substrates have only one dominant size, dots on misoriented substrates are formed in lines with a clear bimodal size distribution. Room temperature photoluminescence measurements show that QDs on misoriented substrates have narrower FWHM, longer emission wavelength and much larger PL intensity relative to those of dots on exact substrates. However, our rapid thermal annealing (RTA) experiments indicate that annealing shows a stronger effect on dots with misoriented substrates by greatly accelerating the degradation of material quality.