Single quantum well transistor with modulation doped AlGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs structures

Self-consistent calculations have been performed to obtain the wave functions and energy subbands of the two-dimensional electrons confined in a single quantum well of a Al_xGa_1?xAs/GaAs/Al_xGa_1?xAs heterostructure. The wave functions of the two-dimensional electron gas are found to be easily controlled by an external gate voltage applied between the AlGaAs-barriers, indicating a capability of fabricating a novel quantum well device, a modulation-doped single quantum well transistor.     

Optically biased photoreflectance spectroscopy of a GaAs epitaxial layer and an AlGaAs/GaAs quantum well

We propose optically biased photoreflectance (OBPR) spectroscopy, which is performed by continuous illumination of a secondary monochromatic light on a sample with conventional photoreflectance (PR), as a useful tool to investigate the internal electric fields dependence of the PR signals associated with band to band and quantum level transitions. Line shape of the PR signal has a strong dependence on the internal electric field. In OBPR, if a secondary incident light is absorbed, the internal electric field is suppressed by the photo-generated electron–hole pairs. On the other hand, if the secondary light is not absorbed, the internal electric field is not affected. Through the OBPR investigation of a GaAs epitaxial layer and an AlGaAs/GaAs quantum well, we are able to obtain an absorption like spectrum by performing a wavelength scan of a secondary monochromatic light. The results of OBPR measurements at each PR peak position show the contribution of the electric fields modification by the photo-generated carriers in each layers to the PR signals that are related to band gap and quantum level transitions.     

Aluminium implantation-induced disordering of AlGaAs/GaAs quantum well structures

The process of Al implantation-induced disordering of AlGaAs/GaAs quantum well structures has been studied for optical waveguide applications. A study of the implanted samples using photoluminescence demonstrates that disordering is primarily a damage-based process and that this process may be suitable for the fabrication of surface gratings.     

Resonant magnetopolaron effects in GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well structures

A detailed experimental study of electron cyclotron resonance (CR) has been carried out at 4.2 K in three modulation-doped GaAs/Al_0.3Ga_0.7As multiple quantum well samples in fields up to 30 T. A strong avoided-level-crossing splitting of the CR energies due to resonant magnetopolaron effects is observed for all samples near the GaAs reststrahlen region. Resonant splittings in the region of AlAs-like interface phonon modes of the barriers are observed in two samples with narrower well width and smaller doping concentration. The interaction between electrons and the AlAs interface optical phonon modes has been calculated for our specific sample structures in the framework of the memory-function formalism. The calculated results are in good agreement with the experimental results, which confirms our assignment of the observed splitting near the AlAs-like phonon region is due to the resonant magnetopolaron interaction of electrons in the wells with AlAs-like interface phonons.     

Anomalous dephasing of two-dimensional electrons in an AlGaAs/GaAs parabolic quantum well structure

Magnetoconductivity measurements are performed on a parabolic quantum well structure. The weak localization effect is observed at a low magnetic field for both single-subband and double-subband occupation regimes. Applying weak-localization theory, we have extracted the dephasing rate. The extracted dephasing rate increases with increasing conductivity in the small-energy-transfer regime and shows a similar trend as the electron density is increased in the large-energy-transfer regime. This is in conflict with Fermi-liquid theory, and cannot be attributed to electron–phonon scattering.     

Nonlocal optical properties in AlGaAs/GaAs coupled quantum well nanostructures

Nonlocal intersubband optical absorption properties in AlGaAs/GaAs coupled quantum well (CQW) nanostructures are investigated for a p-polarized light in the case of taking spatial nonlocality of optical response into account. The numerical results show that the spatial nonlocality of optical response can lead optical spectrum lines to have a radiation shift due to the nonlocal effects, and the spatial nonlocality is associated closely with the coupling effects between the potential wells of the CQW system. The dependence of the radiation shift on structure parameters of the CQW is clarified. It is also demonstrated that the maximal radiation shift and the least optical absorbance can be obtained by optimizing structure parameters of the CQW. These results may be constructive in designing nanomaterials with various nonlocality and observing the spatial nonlocal effects in experiment.     

Suppressed intermixing in InAlGaAs/ AlGaAs/GaAs and AlGaAs/GaAs quantum well heterostructures irradiated with a KrF excimer laser

The influence of gallium arsenide surface modification induced by irradiation with a KrF excimer laser on the magnitude of the quantum well (QW) intermixing effect has been investigated in InAlGaAs/AlGaAs/GaAs QW heterostructures. The irradiation in an air environment with laser pulses of fluences between 60 and 100 mJ/cm² has resulted in the formation of a gallium oxide-rich film at the surface. Following the annealing at 900 °C, up to 35 nm suppression of the band gap blue shift was observed in all the laser irradiated samples when compared to the non-irradiated samples. The origin of suppression has been discussed in terms of stress controlled diffusion. PACS 78.55.Et; 66.30.Lw; 73.21.Fg     

Photoluminescence studies of confined states in AlGaAs/GaAs asymmetric quantum well

In the recombination spectra of AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures, a peculiar and asymmetric photoluminescence (PL) band F has previously been reported [Aloulou et al., Mater. Sci. Eng. B 96 (2002) 14] to be due to recombinations of confined electrons from the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) formed at AlGaAs/GaAs interface in asymmetric quantum well (AQW). Detailed experiments are reported here on GaAs/Al_0.31Ga_0.69As/GaAs:δSi/Al_0.31Ga_0.69As/GaAs samples with different spacer layer thicknesses. We show that the band F is the superposition of two PL bands F′ and F″ associated, respectively, to AQW and a symmetric quantum well (SQW). In the low excitation regime, the F′ band present a blue shift (4.4 meV) followed by important red shift (16.5 meV) when increasing optical excitation intensity. The blue shift in energy is interpreted in terms of optical control of the 2DEG density in the AQW while the red shift is due to the narrowing of the band gaps caused by the local heating of the sample and band bending modification for relatively high-optical excitation intensity. Calculation performed using self-consistent resolution of the coupled Schrödinger–Poisson equations are included to support the interpretation of the experimental data.     

Quenching of photoluminescence from GaAs/AlGaAs single quantum well by an electric field at high temperature

Photoluminescence measurements at room temperature and at liquid nitrogen temperature on a GaAs/AlGaAs single quantum well structure subject to an electric field are performed to study (i) the photoluminescence quenching and (ii) the shift in the photoluminescence energy induced by the field. The observed shifts in the luminescence energies are explained successfully in terms of the field induced electron-hole separation model. For the quenching of the luminescence intensities, more work, particularly on nonradiative processes, is required to clarify the mechanism.     

The effect of interdiffusion on the change of refractive index of an AlGaAs/GaAs quantum well structure

The change of the refractive index due to quantum well (QW) disordering is calculated for light propagating normal to the Al_0.3Ga_0.7As/GaAs QW layers (i.e. along the QW growth direction). A hyperbolic function is used to model the above QW confinement profile after disordering, i.e. thermal interdiffusion of trivalent atoms across the well-barrier interfaces. The refractive index difference (n) is evaluated for two cases, where case I refers to the difference between a partially disordered QW and a more extensively disordered QW, while case II refers to the difference between an as-grown QW and a partially disordered QW. The results demonstrate that good photon confinement (large n > 0) can be achieved for both cases, where n increases with increasing QW width and decreases with annealing time for case I while for case II it increases with annealing time. In comparing the two cases, a shorter annealing time is required to achieve the same value of n if the case II structures are used. The change of refractive index obtained here demonstrates a larger value of n than that produced by the variation of the concentration of free carriers in the bulk material.     

Post-growth tailoring of the optical properties of GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well structures

In this paper we describe a method for performing post-growth bandgap engineering in the GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well system. The method used is impurity-free vacancy diffusion. Using both single and multiple quantum well data we show that this allows blue shifts in the optical properties, while retaining both their distinctive excitonic and electrical characteristics. The electrical response is modelled and no comparative degradation of the quantum confined Stark effect is predicted, and this is confirmed experimentally. Possible applications of this technique are mentioned.     

Resonant tunneling GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well structures for p-i-n photovoltaic cells

This study is devoted to the development of resonant-tunneling structures of quantum wells implementing resonant matching of lower subbands of size quantization in an electric field of the p-i-n junction of photovoltaic elements. The method for controlling the lower subband position in quantum wells by introducing a series of the tunnel-transparent barriers into a quantum well is proposed. The possibility of varying the level position in deep quantum wells in a wide range up to the continuous spectrum is demonstrated on a grown model structure; in this case, agreement between calculated and experimental subband positions is achieved.     

Electro-optical probing of envelope wavefunctions in GaAs/AlGaAs parabolic quantum well structures

We report on a systematic experimental and theoretical study of the interband electroabsorption in GaAs/AlGaAs parabolic quantum well structures. Investigating a sample with an appropriately designed well width, we are able to observe a complex interplay of various electro-optical effects. The obtained results can be interpreted in terms of probing the electric-field dependent overlaps between the harmonic oscillator type envelope wavefunctions of electrons and holes.     

Below-band-gap waveguiding behaviors of a weakly index-guided GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well laser

We report the reduced waveguiding efficiency for the signals around 1560 nm as the injection current of an GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well laser diode (lasing wavelength at 840 nm) with a ridge-loading waveguide configuration increased. This reduction trend stopped when the injection current reached the threshold condition of the laser diode. The decreased waveguide transmission and the more expanded mode profile indicated the variation of the effective refractive index gradient in the lateral dimension with injection current. This variation was due to the refractive index decrease with increasing carrier density even below band gap. A slab waveguide model was used to simulate the lateral mode profile variation with injection current. The refractive index differences between the guiding layer and claddings in the slab waveguide model provided estimates of refractive index contrasts of the laser diode at a concerned wavelength under various injection conditions.     

Electron dephasing of a GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well with self-assembled InAs dots

We study the magnetotransport of a GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well with self-assembled InAs quantum dots. Negative magnetoresistance is observed at low field and analysed by weak localization theory. The temperature dependence of the extracted dephasing rate is linear, which shows that the inelastic electron-electron scattering processes with small energy transfer are the dominant contribution in breaking the electron phase coherence. The results are compared with those of a reference sample that contains no quantum dots.     

Carrier transport effects on the photocurrent spectra of an intrinsic GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well with highly doped AlGaAs contact layers

In this study, we demonstrate how electroreflectance (ER) measurements as a function of bias, and of angle of incidence (θ₀), together with bias dependent photocurrent (PC) measurements, can be used to provide understanding of the complex electric field profile and carrier transport effects in a GaAs/Al_0.3Ga_0.7As multiple quantum well (MQW), grown inside n⁺ contact layers. The PC measurements exhibit split excitonic features, the components of which change in strength with the applied bias. The effect is explained by absorption in the front of the MQW stack, with the back of the stack acting as detector. We examine the θ₀-dependence of the ER lineshape, to determine the depth of the layers responsible for each feature. The ER and PC lineshapes and their bias dependence are explained by the unusual electric field profile across the stack. The field profile appears to be determined by tunnelling of the dark current.     

Exciton tunnelling in ZnCdSe quantum well/CdSe quantum dots

Exciton tunnelling through a ZnSe barrier layer of various thicknesses is investigated in a Zn_0.72Cd_0.28Se/CdSe coupled quantum well/quantum dots (QW/QDs) structure using photoluminescence (PL) spectra and near resonant pump-probe technique. Fast exciton tunnelling from quantum well to quantum dots is observed by transient differential transmission. The tunnelling time is 1.8, 4.4 and 39 ps for barrier thickness of 10, 15 and 20 nm, respectively.     

High-frequency magneto-oscillations in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

We have observed very high-frequency, highly reproducible magneto-oscillations in modulation doped GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well structures. The oscillations are periodic in an inverse magnetic field (1/B) and their amplitude increases with temperature up to T approximately 700 mK. Being initially most pronounced around the filling factor nu=1/2, they move towards lower nu with increasing T. Front and back-gating data imply that these oscillations require a coupling to a parallel conducting layer. A comparison with existing oscillation models renders no explanation.     

Magnetoplasma resonance in a GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well in a strong parallel magnetic field

The dispersion of magnetoplasma excitations in two-dimensional electron systems in a strong parallel magnetic field has been studied. A considerable increase in the electron cyclotron mass with an increase in the parallel component of magnetic field has been detected. It has been found that the cyclotron mass increment is a quadratic function of the magnetic field parallel to the interface. It has been shown that the mass anisotropy of 2D electrons induced by the parallel magnetic field reaches nearly 2.5 in B _‖ = 7 T. The energy of space quantization of the electron in the quantum well has been estimated from the magnetic field dependence of the anisotropy.