Dependence on temperature of homogeneous broadening of InGaAs/InAs/GaAs quantum dot fundamental transitions

We report systematic temperature-dependent measurements of photoluminescence spectra in self-assembled InGaAs/InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs). We have studied the rise in temperature of the ground-state homogeneous linewidth.A theoretical model is presented and accounts for the phonon-assisted broadening of this transition in individual QD. We have estimated the homogeneous linewidth of an individual QD from PL spectra of self-organized InAs/GaAs QDs by isolating the PL of each individual QD and fitting the narrow line associated with self-organized QDs through a Lorentzian convoluted by a Gaussian. We have observed a strong exciton–LO–phonon coupling (γ_LO) which becomes the dominating contribution to the linewidth above the temperature of 45 K. We have also derived the activation energy (ΔE) of the exciton–LO–phonon coupling, zero temperature linewidth (Γ₀) and the exciton-LA-phonon coupling parameter (γ_Ac). We report that our values are close to the values found in the literature for single InGaAs QD and InAs QD.     

Linewidth enhancement factor of InAs/InP quantum dot lasers around 1.5 μm

Linewidth enhancement factor (LEF) of InAs/InP quantum dot (QD) multi-wavelength lasers (MWLs) emitting around 1.5 μm is investigated both above and below the threshold. Above the threshold, LEFs at three different wavelengths around the gain peak of 1.53 μm by the injection locking technique are obtained to be 1.63, 1.37 and 1.59. Then by Hakki–Paoli method LEF is found to decrease with increased current and shows a value of less than 1 below the threshold. These small LEF values have clearly indicated that our developed InAs/InP QDs are perfect and promising gain materials for QD MWLs, QD mode-locked lasers (QD MLLs) and QD distributed-feedback (QD DFB) lasers around 1.5 μm.     

Reduced linewidth enhancement factor due to excited state transition of quantum dot lasers

The carrier induced refractive index change and linewidth enhancement factor α due to ground-state (GS) and excited-state (ES) transitions have been compared by measuring the optical gain spectra from an InAs/GaAs quantum dot (QD) laser structure. It is shown that the ES transition exhibits a reduced α-factor compared to the value due to the GS transition. This result can be explained by the α-factor due to the ES transition having a smaller increase from the non-resonant carriers in the combined state of the wetting layer and InGaAs strain reducing layer than the α-factor increase due to the GS transition, since the relaxation time for carriers from the combined state of the wetting layer and InGaAs strain reducing layer to the ES is shorter than to the GS. The result reported here shows another advantage of using ES QD lasers for optical communication, in addition to their higher modulation speed.     

Four-wave mixing in long wavelength III-nitride QD-SOAs

Four wave mixing analysis is stated for quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifiers (QD SOAs) using the propagation equations (including nonlinear propagation contribution) coupled with the QD rate equations under the saturation assumption. Long wavelength III-nitride InN and AIInN QD SOAs are simulated. Asymmetric behavior due to linewidth enhancement factor is assigned. P-doping increases efficiency. Lossless efficiency for InAlN QDs for longer radii is obtained. Carrier heating is shown to have a considerable effect and a detuning dependence is expected at most cases. InN QD SOAs shown to have higher efficiency.     

线宽增强因子对外光注入半导体激光器非线性单周期振荡特性的影响

线宽增强因子是影响半导体激光器输出特性的一个重要参量,不同材料不同结构类型的半导体激光器的线宽增强因子有较大的差异.利用光注入半导体激光器的单模速率方程模型,数值研究了线宽增强因子对外光注入半导体激光器的非线性单周期振荡特性的影响.结果表明:外光注入半导体激光器的动态特性对线宽增强因子的变化极为敏感,随着线宽增强因子的增加,在负失谐注入范围内单周期振荡区域显著增大,同时注入锁定的稳态输出被大大抑制.分析了线宽增强因子对非线性单周期振荡光谱特性和振荡频率的影响,结果表明:随着半导体激光器线宽增强因子的增大,单周期振荡的频率越大|当线宽增强因子不变时,单周期振荡的频率随注入光强度和频率失谐的增加而增加.     

Growth and optical characterization of dense arrays of site-controlled quantum dots grown in inverted pyramids

We report on the growth and optical properties of dense arrays of single GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dot (QD) heterostructures with pitches as small as 300 nm. The samples were grown by organometallic chemical vapor deposition in dense inverted pyramids on {1 1 1}B GaAs substrate pre-patterned using electron beam lithography and wet chemical etching. The growth conditions such as deoxidation and growth temperatures, growth rates, and V/III ratio, had to be chosen quite differently from those employed with micron-size pyramids. Low-temperature micro-photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence spectra of the samples show distinct luminescence from the QDs with a linewidth of less than 1 meV and uniform emission energy for an ensemble of 900 QDs. The possibility of incorporating such QD arrays inside optical microcavity structures is also discussed.     

Stable high optical power in quantum well lasers with profiled reflection and tapered structures

A comprehensive model is presented to study quantum well tapered lasers and quantum well stripe lasers with profiled reflectivity output facets and to obtain lateral stability in high power semiconductor laser. Simulation of semiconductor lasers is performed by numerically solving space-dependent coupled partial differential equations for the complex optical forward and backward waves, carrier density distribution and temperature distribution. The coupled equations are solved by finite difference beam propagation method. The effect of nonlinear parameters like Kerr and linewidth enhancement factors, and precise dependence of linewidth enhancement factor and gain factor on the carrier density and temperature are considered in this paper. We use modal reflector in stripe lasers to confine the lateral mode to the stripe centre and provide the stable operation. We also use unpumped window to reduce the facet temperature and improve the catastrophic optical mirror damage level of tapered lasers.     

Simulations of Differential Gain and Linewidth Enhancement Factor of Quantum Dot Semiconductor Lasers

We present a multi-population rate equation model for the analysis of the static and dynamic characteristics of a quantum dot (QD) semiconductor laser. The model is applied to the extraction of the differential gain and linewidth enhancement factor of the QD laser simulating the same kind of experiments usually done in the laboratory. Coherently with the experimental results, we show the difference between the values of the differential parameters extracted in below and above threshold characterizations. We demonstrate that such discrepancy is due the complex dynamics of the carriers in those energy states, whose carrier concentration is not clamped by the stimulated emission process above threshold.     

非线性增益和波导结构对半导体激光器的谱线宽度的作用

本文采用半经典理论研究了非线性增益和波导结构对量子相位噪声引起的模式谱线增宽过程的作用,得出谱线宽度不但与线性增益而且与三阶增益有关,并且都受到波导结构的制书。从而提出新的谱线增宽因子和与功率无关的线宽的新机制。 关键词：     

Comparison of single-layer and bilayer InAs/GaAs quantum dots with a higher InAs coverage

Epitaxially grown self-assembled InAs quantum dots (QDs) have found applications in optoelectronics. Efforts are being made to obtain efficient quantum-dot lasers operating at longer telecommunication wavelengths, specifically 1.3 μm and 1.55 μm. This requires narrow emission linewidth from the quantum dots at these wavelengths. In InAs/GaAs single layer quantum dot (SQD) structure, higher InAs monolayer coverage for the QDs gives rise to larger dots emitting at longer wavelengths but results in inhomogeneous dot-size distribution. The bilayer quantum dot (BQD) can be used as an alternative to SQDs, which can emit at longer wavelengths (1.229 μm at 8 K) with significantly narrow linewidth (∼16.7 meV). Here, we compare the properties of single layer and bilayer quantum dots grown with higher InAs monolayer coverage. In the BQD structure, only the top QD layer is covered with increased (3.2 ML) InAs monolayer coverage. The emission line width of our BQD sample is found to be insensitive towards post growth treatments.     

Low linewidth enhancement factor for InGaAsP and InGaAIAs multiple quantum well lasers

A comparative measurement is reported of the linewidth enhancement factor of bulk and multiple quantum well (MQW) long-wavelength diode lasers using the chirp halfwidth product method. Although MQW lasers provide substantially improved chirp performance compared with bulk devices, this depends considerably on the drive conditions when gain switching.     

Influence of Nonlinear Gain Saturation on the Time-Bandwidth Product of Optical Pulse from a Gain-Switched Semiconductor Laser

It is found numerically that the time-bandwidth product (TBP) of optical pulse from a gain-switched semiconductor laser operating under a sufficient gain saturation condition increases monotonously with increasing modulation amplitude. This enhancement of the TBP becomes remarkable for longer-wavelength semiconductor lasers (1.3, 1.55 μm) having large value of the gain compression factor ε (∼ 10⁻²³ m³), making the pulse chirp estimation using the TBP difficult.     

Photoluminescence of InAs quantum dots embedded in graded InGaAs barriers

The effects of the top barrier and the dot density on photoluminescence (PL) of the InAs quantum dots (QDs) sandwiched by the graded In_xGa_1−xAs barriers grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) have been studied. Two emission peaks corresponding to the ground state and the 1st excited state transitions of the QD structures have been observed, which matches well to the theoretical calculation. The PL emission linewidth and intensity of the InAs QDs structure are improved by reducing the Indium/Gallium composition variation of the graded In_xGa_1−xAs top barrier layer of the structure. The QDs’ ground states filling excitation power depends on the crystal quality of the InGaAs barrier layer and the QD density. The extracted thermal activation energy for the QDs’ PL emission is sensitive to the QD size.     

色散关系和纵向耦合腔(C3)对半导体激光器的模谱行为的影响

本文从理论上探讨了色散关系的作用,引进α_e和F因数,修正了半导体激光器的光谱线宽公式,发现通过波导结构的设计不但可减小α_e因数,还可增大F因数来进一步抑制光谱线宽,用所提出的等效反射率法分析了纵向耦合腔(C³)的选模和压缩线宽的机制,指出实现单纵模窄线宽的条件。 关键词：     

Long-wavelength luminescence from GaSb quantum dots grown on GaAs substrates

Self-assembled GaSb quantum dots (QDs) with a photoluminescence wavelength longer than 1.3 μm were successfully grown by suppressing the replacement of As and Sb on the surface of the GaSb QDs. This result means that GaSb can thus join InAs or GaInAs as a suitable material for QD lasers for optical communications.     

Tuning of long-wavelength emission in InxGa1−xAs quantum dot structures

This work explores the conditions to obtain the extension of the PL emission beyond 1.3 μm in InGaAs quantum dot (QD) structures growth by MOCVD. We found that, by controlling the In incorporation in the barrier embedding the QDs, the wavelength emission can be continuously tuned from 1.25 μm up to 1.4 μm at room temperature. However, the increase in the overall strain of the structures limits the possibility to increase the maximum gain in the QD active device, where an optical density as high as possible is required. By exploring the kinetics of QD surface reconstruction during the GaAs overgrowth, we are able to obtain, for the first time, emission beyond 1.3 μm from InGaAs QDs grown on GaAs matrix. The wavelength is tuned from 1.26 μm up to 1.33 μm and significant improvements in terms of line shape narrowing and room temperature efficiency are obtained. The temperature-dependent quenching of the emission efficiency is reduced down to a factor of 3, the best value ever reported for QD structures emitting at 1.3 μm.     

Coherent dynamics in InGaAs quantum dots and quantum dot molecules

We measure the dephasing time of the exciton ground state transition in InGaAs quantum dots (QD) and quantum dot molecules (QDM) using a sensitive four-wave mixing technique. In the QDs we find experimental evidence that the dephasing time is given only by the radiative lifetime at low temperatures. We demonstrate the tunability of the radiatively limited dephasing time from 400 ps up to 2 ns in a series of annealed QDs with increasing energy separation of 69–330 meV from the wetting layer continuum. Furthermore, the distribution of the fine-structure splitting δ₁ and of the biexciton binding energy δ_B is measured. δ₁ decreases from 96 to with increasing annealing temperature, indicating an improving circular symmetry of the in-plane confinement potential. The biexciton binding energy shows only a weak dependence on the confinement energy, which we attribute to a compensation between decreasing confinement and decreasing separation of electron and hole. In the QDM we measured the exciton dephasing as function of interdot barrier thickness in the temperature range from 5 to 60 K. At 5 K dephasing times of several hundred picoseconds are found. Moreover, a systematic dependence of the dephasing dynamics on the barrier thickness is observed, showing how the quantum mechanical coupling in the molecules affects the exciton lifetime and acoustic-phonon interaction.     

Enhancement of spin polarization in asymmetrically coupled CdSe and CdZnMnSe quantum dots in ZnSe matrix

An asymmetrically coupled double quantum dot (QD) system consisting of adjacent CdSe and CdZnMnSe QD layers in a ZnSe matrix was investigated using polarization-selective magneto-photoluminescence (PL). Two well-resolved PL peaks are observed corresponding, respectively, to the CdSe and the CdZnMnSe QDs. The peaks exhibit significant change in the intensity and energy position when a magnetic field is applied. The enhancement of the degree of σ⁻ circular polarization emitted by the non-magnetic CdSe QDs is observed in the double layer system, as compared to that observed in CdSe QDs without the influence of neighboring CdZnMnSe QDs. This behavior was discussed in terms of antiferromagnetic interaction between carrier spins localized in pairs of CdSe and CdZnMnSe QDs that are electronically coupled.     

Lasing spectra of 1.55 μm InAs/InP quantum dot lasers: theoretical analysis and comparison with the experiments

In this paper, a theoretical model is used to investigate the lasing spectrum properties of InAs/InP (113)B quantum dot (QD) lasers emitting at 1.55 μm. The numerical model used is based on a multi-population rate equation (MPRE) analysis. It takes into account the effect of the competition between the inhomogeneous broadening (due to the QD size dispersion) and the homogenous broadening as well as a nonlinear gain variation associated to a multimode laser emission. The double laser emission and the temperature dependence of lasing spectra of self-assembled InAs/InP quantum dot lasers is studied both experimentally and theoretically.     

Site-controlled quantum dots grown in inverted pyramids for photonic crystal applications

We report on the growth and optical properties of various configurations of sub-micron pitch dense arrays of pyramidal quantum dots (QDs) grown by organometallic chemical vapour deposition on patterned substrates. We show that the effective growth rate of these QDs is influenced by the ratio between the free {1 1 1}B area and {1 1 1}A exposed facets surrounding them. This provides a powerful technique for engineering the energy level structure of ordered QD arrays by means of geometrical patterning of the growth template. Such technique should be particularly useful for applications in photonic crystals incorporating QDs with tailored absorption and/or emission properties.