Structural and optical properties of a catalyst-free GaAs/AlGaAs core–shell nano/microwire grown on (1 1 1)Si substrate

Heterostructure in the catalyst-free GaAs nanowire grown on the Si substrate was studied for the application of optical devices in the next generation. We fabricated AlGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well (QW) structure on the side facet of the catalyst-free GaAs nanowire grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The cathode luminescence (CL) measurement showed that the uniform GaAs quantum well was formed between AlGaAs shell layers. On the basis of this structure, we also grew the thick AlGaAs shell layers (∼700 nm) on GaAs nanowires, and observed whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonant in the thick AlGaAs hexagonal structure.     

Formation of AlxGa1−xAs periodic array of micro-hexagonal pillars and air holes by selective area MOVPE

A two-dimensional (2D) periodic array having air/semiconductor interfaces can be applied to photonic crystals (PCs), which are expected to control spontaneous emission and optical transports in the next-generation devices. In this paper, we report on the selective area metal-organic vapor phase epitaxial (SA-MOVPE) growth of a Al_xGa_1−xAs 2D periodic array on a GaAs (1 1 1)B substrate for application to 2DPCs having GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures. Al_xGa_1−xAs (x=0, 0.25 and 0.50) growth was carried out on triangular lattice array of hexagonal GaAs openings and hexagonal SiN_x masks. A uniform Al_0.50Ga_0.50As hexagonal pillar array and a GaAs hexagonal air-hole array with a 1 μm-period were successfully obtained. The important growth parameter for uniform 2DPC structure formation by SA-MOVPE was clarified. Furthermore, we describe the successful demonstration of a 400 nm-period pillar array and an air-hole array, which corresponds to the optical communication wavelength λ=1.3–1.55 μm. The results indicate that SA-MOVPE method is very promising for the formation of uniform semiconductor 2DPCs without the occurrence of process-induced damages.     

Comparison of the quantum confined stark effect for (100)- and (311)A-oriented GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells using electroreflectance spectroscopy

The excitonic subband transitions of (100)- and (311)A-oriented GaAs/AlGaAs single quantum wells (SQW's) are investigated using electroreflectance spectroscopy. The strong Franz-Keldysh-Oscillations arising from the undoped AlGaAs barrier layers are analyzed to determine the field strength within the SQW's directly from the measurements with high accuracy. Both, the orientation-dependent splitting between the first heavy and light hole subbands and their field-induced shifts are compared with the results of k·p calculations. Best agreement between experiment and theory is obtained for a set of Luttinger parameters corresponding to heavy and light hole masses of 0.55m₀ and 0.084m₀, respectively, along the [311] direction.     

Complex band structure calculations of the electric field dependence of the transmission of holes through a (100) GaAs/AlGaAs/GaAs barrier structure

A pseudopotential complex band structure approach is used to investigate the transmission of heavy and light holes through a (100) GaAs/AlGaAs/GaAs barrier structure in the presence of an electric field. The results can be significantly different from those obtained using a simple effective mass model. In particular, for an incident light hole there is large barrier induced mixing with the spin-split-off states which reduces the light hole transmission and excites the transmission of spin-split off states. Transmission through a quantum well structure is also considered and significant effects are seen due to the presence of resonances.     

Electroluminescent device based on AlxGa1−xAs–GaAs quantum well nanostructures

AlGaAs–GaAs based quantum well nanopillar arrays are fabricated by using the UV lithography and the chlorine based reactive ion etching. The nanostructure is fabricated so as to get the confinement of carriers within the i-GaAs quantum well layer of 9 nm thick sandwiched between two barrier layers of Al_0.33Ga_0.67As of 11 nm thick in order to induce the possible light emission from the quantum well region. The size of pillars is obtained from SEM analysis. The number of pillars available within the 1 m² mesa size is found to be around 400 having the pillar size between 10 and 50 nm. Electroluminesence (EL) is detected from the nanopillars when applying a forward bias voltage of 1.3 V and the emitted light is observed at around 830 nm.     

Self-assembled GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dots by molecular beam epitaxy and in situ AsBr3 etching

We report on a new method to produce self-assembled, unstrained, GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dots (QDs) with large confinement energy. First we create nanoholes on a GaAs surface by growing InAs islands on GaAs(0 0 1), overgrowing them with GaAs and etching the surface in situ with AsBr₃ gas. Then we transfer the holes to an AlGaAs surface, fill them with GaAs and overgrow them with AlGaAs. In this way we obtain GaAs inclusions in an AlGaAs matrix. We investigate the optical properties of such QDs by photoluminescence spectroscopy and their morphology by atomic force microscopy. We show that the QD size can be tuned and emission with inhomogeneous broadening down to 8.9 meV can be achieved.     

GaAs quantum well structures investigation by local cathodoluminescence

The article shows the cathodoluminescence technique application to a quality analysis of a semiconductor multilayer heterostructures. Two structures with a GaAs quantum well embedded between the AlGaAs and GaInP barriers were investigated. The AlGaAs/GaAs/GaInP and GaInP/GaAs/AlGaAs structures were grown by MOCVD on a GaAs substrate. In this work we study the interface quality of quantum-dimensional GaAs layer by means of the local cathodoluminescence. Degradation and broadening of GaAs/GaInP interface occurring during the growth process of GaAs on GaInP layer was assumed to result in the formation of a layer with mixed composition at the interface. In addition, the presence of the layer prevented the formation of a quantum well in the GaAs layer. The transition layer was clearly observed by the cathodoluminescence. In the other case it was found that the growth of a structure with GaAs layer on top of AlGaAs produced a quantum well with a 10 nm thickness. The interface quality and layer thicknesses were also confirmed by the X-ray diffraction investigation of these structures.     

Nonselective vertical etching of GaAs and AlGaAs/GaAs in high pressure capacitively coupled BCl3/N2 plasmas

We studied nonselective, vertical dry etching of GaAs and AlGaAs/GaAs structure in high pressure capacitively coupled BCl₃/N₂ plasmas. The operating pressure was fixed at 150 m Torr. We found that there was an optimized process condition for nonselective and vertical etching of GaAs and AlGaAs/GaAs at the relatively high pressure. It was noted that there was a range of % N₂ (i.e. 20–40%) where nonselective etching of GaAs over AlGaAs could be achieved in the BCl₃/N₂ mixed plasma. We also found that dry etching of GaAs and AlGaAs/GaAs structure provided quite vertical and smooth surface when % N₂ was in the range of 0–20% in the BCl₃/N₂ plasma. The maximum etch rates for GaAs (0.41 μm/min) and AlGaAs/GaAs structure (0.42 μm/min) were obtained with 20–30% N₂ composition in the plasma.     

InAs/GaAs单量子点中电子/空穴自旋弛豫

利用分子束外延制备了三种类型量子点样品,它们分别是:未掺杂样品、n型Si调制掺杂样品和p型Be调制掺杂样品。在5 K温度下,采用共聚焦显微镜系统,测量了单量子点的光致发光谱和时间分辨光谱, 研究了单量子点中三种类型激子(本征激子、负电荷激子和正电荷激子)的电子/空穴自旋翻转时间。它们的自旋翻转时间常数分别为: 本征激子的自旋翻转时间约16 ns, 正电荷激子中电子的自旋翻转时间约2 ns, 负电荷激子中空穴的自旋翻转时间约50 ps。     

Electroreflectance studies of thin GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well structures with tunable 2DEG densities

We report the results of low-temperature electroreflectance (ER) and photoluminescence (PL) investigations on thin n-type modulation-doped GaAs/AlGaAs single quantum well structures. The density of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) is varied continuously from zero to N_s∼6*10¹¹ cm^-2, using a Schottky gate, and is detected optically via the Stokes shift between the ER and PL subband transitions. For the first time, the splitting between transitions involving the first electron subband and the first heavy and light hole subbands, respectively, is studied as a function of the 2DEG density using ER spectroscopy. The results are discussed in comparison with the calculated in-plane dispersion of the hole subbands. Clear evidence is given for the influence of exciton screening effects.     

GaAs/AlAs super-flat interfaces in GaAs/AlAs and GaAs/(GaAs) (AlAs) quantum wells grown on (4 1 1)A GaAs substrates by MBE

Effectively atomically flat GaAs/AlAs interfaces over a macroscopic area (“super-flat interfaces”) have been realized in GaAs/AlAs and GaAs/(GaAs) (AlAs) quantum wells (QWs) grown on (4 1 1)A GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). A single and very sharp photoluminescence (PL) peak was observed at 4.2 K from each GaAs/AlAs or GaAs/(GaAs) (AlAs) QW grown on (4 1 1)A GaAs substrate. The full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of a PL peak for GaAs/AlAs QW with a well width ( ) of 4.2 nm was 4.7 meV and that for GaAs/(GaAs) (AlAs) QW with a smaller well width of 2.8 nm (3.9 nm) was 7.6 meV (4.6 meV), which are as narrow as that for an individual splitted peak for conventional GaAs/AlAs QWs grown on (1 0 0) GaAs substrates with growth interruption. Furthermore, only one sharp peak was observed for each GaAs/(GaAs) (AlAs) QW on the (4 1 1)A GaAs substrate over the whole area of the wafer (7 7 mm ), in contrast with two- or three-splitted peaks reported for each GaAs/AlAs QW grown on the (1 0 0) GaAs substrate with growth interruption. These results indicate that GaAs/AlAs super-flat interfaces have been realized in GaAs/AlAs and GaAs/(GaAs) (AlAs) QWs grown on the (4 1 1)A GaAs substrates.     

A study of GaInP/GaAs interfaces: metallurgical coupling of successive quantum wells

We present a study of GaInP/GaAs interfaces by means of photoluminescence (PL) of multi quantum wells (MQW), embedded in GaInP, or asymmetric structures having an AlGaAs barrier GaInP/GaAs/AlGaAs. The PL energies of quantum wells were compared with calculations based on the transfer matrix envelope function approximation, well suited for asymmetric structures. GaInP/GaAs/AlGaAs MQW structures (GaInP grown first) are in reasonably good agreement with calculations. Reverse ones, AlGaAs/GaAs/GaInP, present a lower PL energy than calculated. But the agreement with theory is recovered on single quantum well samples, or in MQW when the GaInP thickness is increased up to 100 nm. We interpret this phenomenon as a diffusion of arsenic atoms from the next GaAs well through the GaInP barrier. Arsenic atoms exchange with phosphorus atoms at the GaInP-on-GaAs interface of the former well, leading to a small gap strained InGaAs region responsible for the lowering of PL energies.     

Atomic structure of MBE-grown GaAs nanowhiskers

The structural properties of MBE-grown GaAs and Al_0.3Ga_0.7 As nanowhiskers were studied. The formation of wurtzite and 4H-polytype hexagonal structures with characteristic sizes of 100 nm or larger in these materials was demonstrated. It is concluded that the Au-Ga activation alloy symmetry influences the formation of the hexagonal structure.     

Spatially resolved STM light emission spectra of cleaved (1 1 0) AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures

We have measured the spectra of light emitted from individual single GaAs quantum wells of cleaved (1 1 0) AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures using the STM (scanning tunneling microscope) tip as a local electron injection source. The cross-sectional STM images of the quantum wells were obtained, and the light emission spectra were measured by locating the STM tip over individual quantum wells of interest. Single emission peaks were observed to shift to the high-energy side with decreasing well width. The peak positions agree with the calculated transition energies for the corresponding well width. The thermalization length of the injected electron was estimated by observing the change in the emission intensity as the tip is moved at different distances from a given well.     

Si-delta doping and spacer thickness effects on the electronic properties in Si-delta-doped AlGaAs/GaAs HEMT structures

In this work, we investigate the effect of the δ-Si doping on the barrier and the spacer thickness on the electronic properties of AlGaAs/GaAs HEMTs structures grown by molecular beam epitaxy on (1 0 0) oriented GaAs substrates. Photoluminescence measurements as function of the temperature are used to determine the relaxation processes of the electron and the hole in the channel. The photoluminescence characterizations of Si-delta-doped AlGaAs/GaAs HEMTs structures have been studied in the 10–300 K temperature range. Low temperature PL spectra show the optical transition (E_e–h) that occurs between the fundamental states of electrons to holes in the GaAs channel. Increase of the Si-δ-doping density and decrease of the spacer width improve the two-dimensional electron gas confinement and decrease defects densities in the canal. The band structure of Si-delta-doped AlGaAs/GaAs HEMTs structures at T = 10 K has been studied theoretically using the finite differences method to self-consistently and simultaneously solve Schrödinger and Poisson equations written within the Hartree approximation.     

Study of persistent photoconductivity effect in n-type selectively doped AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction

A detailed study of the persistent photoconductivity effect (PPE) at selectively doped Al_0.3Ga_0.7As/GaAs interface was carried out at low (4.2 and 77 K) temperatures on samples with different original channel concentrations and mobilities. The observed selectiveness of the PPE to the photon energy allowed us to identify two independent mechanisms of the PPE making almost equal contributions to the total effect. These two mechanisms are: (i) electron photoexcitation from DX centers in AlGaAs layer, (ii) electron—hole generation in bulk GaAs with a charge separation at the interface. It has been found that the behavior of the mobility as a function of the channel concentration (altered by light) depends on a setback thickness d. For a sample with small d a marked mobility drop has been found. The well-resolved structure in the dependence of the electron mobility on the channel concentration has been observed. The first peculiarity is explained by free electron population of AlGaAs layer due to the electron photorelease from DX-centers. The second feature, occurring at higher charge densities in the channel is attributed to the effect of intersubband scattering arising due to the electron occupation of an excited subband at the interface.     

分子束外延生长AlGaAs/GaAs GRIN-SCH SQW激光器中高温陷阱的研究

应用深能级瞬态谱(DLTS)技术研究分子束外延(MBE)生长的AlGaAs/GaAs graded index separate confinement heterostructure single well(GRIN-SCH SQW)激光器的高温陷阱。样品的DLTS表明,在激光器的n-AlGaAs层里存在着高温(空穴、电子)陷阱,它直接影响着激光器的性能。高温空穴陷阱可能分布在x_Al =0.2→0.43和x_Al=0.43的n-AlGaAs层界面附近,而高温电子陷阱则可能分布在x_Al=0.43的n-AlGaAs层里x_Al值不连续的界面附近。高温电子陷阱的产生可能与AlGaAs层里的O有关。 关键词：     

交叉电场和磁场下GaAs/AIGaAs超晶格子带结构

本文用有效质量理论计算了加平行磁场(方向平行于GaAs/AlGaAs界面)和垂直电场(方向垂直于界面)的超晶格子带结构和光跃迁。加平行磁场后,空穴子带的二重简并解除,轻重空穴混合。加电场后,产生Stark位移,电子和空穴能级发生一定位移。最后,讨论了磁光跃迁概率。     

A digital-alloy AlGaAs/GaAs distributed Bragg reflector for application to 1.3μm surface emitting laser diodes

A distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) utilizing the digital alloy Al_0.9Ga_0.1As was grown by using the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) method for application in 1.3 μm optical communications and compared to the analog-alloy AlGaAs/GaAs DBR. The transmission electron microscopic (TEM) image showed a highly abrupt boundary of AlAs and GaAs, which supports the formation of a digital-alloy Al_0.9Ga_0.1As layer. The measurement showed that the digital-alloy AlGaAs/GaAs DBR had similar reflection spectra with enhanced uniform distribution over the whole substrate surface compared to the analog-alloy one. In the digital-alloy Al_0.9Ga_0.1As/GaAs DBR cavity, the reflection dip position was measured at around 1273 nm and the standard deviation of the distribution of the reflection dip was 1.31 nm in wavelength over 1/4 of a three-inch wafer.     

Proton radiation effect on GaAs/AlGaAs core–shell ensemble nanowires photo-detector

We demonstrate that the GaAs/AlGaAs nanowires(NWs) ensemble is fabricated into photo-detectors. Current–voltage(I–V) characteristics are measured on Ga As/Al Ga As core–shell ensemble NW photo-detectors at room-temperature before and after 1-MeV proton irradiation with fluences from 1.0 × 10~(13) cm~(-2) to 5.0 × 10~(14) cm~(-2). The degradation of photocurrent suggests that the point defects induced by proton radiation could cause both carrier lifetime and carrier mobility to decrease synchronously. Comparing with a GaAs quantum well, the degradations of light and dark current for the irradiated NWs photo-detector indicate that NWs material is a preferable potential candidate for space applications.