Study of post-growth annealing and Ga coverage effects in low-density GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dots grown by modified droplet epitaxy

We present a detailed analysis of the Ga coverage and of the post-growth annealing effects on the optical properties of very-low-density self-assembled GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dots grown by modified droplet epitaxy. Through theoretical calculation of the QD electronic states, including thermally activated Al–Ga interdiffusion processes, we were able to relate our spectroscopic observations to QD structural properties.     

InN量子点的液滴外延及物性表征

由于1. 55μm波段广泛应用于通信领域,为了探索不同生长温度对InN量子点的形貌影响,并且实现自组装InN量子点在1. 55μm通信波段的发光,对InN量子点的液滴外延及物性进行了相关研究。首先利用射频等离子体辅助分子束外延(PA-MBE)技术在GaN模板上,采用液滴外延方法在3种温度下生长了InN量子点结构。生长过程中靠反射高能电子衍射(RHEED)对样品进行原位监控。原子力显微镜(AFM)表征结果表明随着生长温度升高,量子点尺寸变大,密度减小。在生长温度350℃和400℃下,观测到了量子点;当温度高于450℃时,未观测到InN量子点。当生长温度为400℃时,量子点形貌最好,密度为6×10~8/cm~2,对400℃下生长的InN量子点进行了变温PL测试,成功得到InN量子点在1. 55μm波段附近的光致发光,并且随着测试温度的升高,量子点的发光峰位发生了先红移后蓝移最后又红移的S型曲线变化,这种量子点有望在未来应用于量子通信领域。     

Growth and time-resolved photoluminescence study of self-organized CdSe quantum dots in ZnSe

Employing two different growth methods: standard molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and low-temperature atomic layer epitaxy (ALE) with subsequent annealing, we have obtained high-quality quantum dot structures consisting of CdSe embedded in ZnSe. Single dot emission lines are observed in micro-luminescence. The samples have been investigated by further optical methods including time-resolved photoluminescence under resonant excitation at 4.2 K. Distinct properties of systems with three-dimensional confinement are observed such as the suppression of the interaction between isolated quantum dots (QDs). In standard quantum wells tunneling/hopping processes generally lead to a pronounced red shift of the luminescence over time due to a lateral localization of excitons in potential fluctuations. A much less pronounced red shift is observed for the QDs reflecting only the different lifetimes of single dots and higher excited states. The red shift completely vanishes under resonant excitation that selectively excites only a few QDs of the ensemble in the layer. Typical behaviour is also observed from the halfwidth of the quantum dot emission.     

Purcell effect of GaAs quantum dots by photonic crystal microcavities

We fabricate photonic crystal slab microcavities embedded with GaAs quantum dots by electron beam lithography and droplet epitaxy. The Purcell effect of exciton emission of the quantum dots is confirmed by the micro photoluminescence measurement. The resonance wavelengths, widths, and polarization are consistent with numerical simulation results.     

非晶Si/SiO2超晶格结构的交流电致发光

设计并用磁控溅射方法制备了非晶Ｓｉ／ＳｉＯ２超晶格结构,以高纯多晶Ｓｉ为靶材,当以Ａｒ＋Ｏ２为溅射气氛时,得到ＳｉＯ２膜,仅以Ａｒ为气氛时,得到Ｓｉ膜。重复地开和关Ｏ２气,便交替地得到ＳｉＯ２和Ｓｉ膜。衬底在靶前往返平移,改变平移的速度或者改变溅射的功率,可以控制膜的厚度。通过透民镜的照片可以看出ＳｉＯ２和Ｓｉ膜具有均匀的周期结构,用低角Ｘ－射线反射谱表征了超晶格的周期结构和各层的厚度。透射光谱表     

Transmission electron microscopy study of vertical quantum dots molecules grown by droplet epitaxy

The compositional distribution of InAs quantum dots grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs capped InAs quantum dots has been studied in this work. Upper quantum dots are nucleated preferentially on top of the quantum dots underneath, which have been nucleated by droplet epitaxy. The growth process of these nanostructures, which are usually called as quantum dots molecules, has been explained. In order to understand this growth process, the analysis of the strain has been carried out from a 3D model of the nanostructure built from transmission electron microscopy images sensitive to the composition.     

Microwave-assisted synthesis of Cu2ZnSnS4 nanocrystals as a novel anode material for lithium ion battery

One-dimensional ordered quantum-ring chains are fabricated on a quantum-dot superlattice template by molecular beam epitaxy. The quantum-dot superlattice template is prepared by stacking multiple quantum-dot layers and quantum-ring chains are formed by partially capping quantum dots. Partially capping InAs quantum dots with a thin layer of GaAs introduces a morphological change from quantum dots to quantum rings. The lateral ordering is introduced by engineering the strain field of a multi-layer InGaAs quantum-dot superlattice.     

Pyramidal quantum dots: High uniformity and narrow excitonic emission

We report on the optical properties of site-controlled InGaAs dots in GaAs barriers grown in pre-patterned, large pitch, pyramidal recesses by metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy. The inhomogeneous broadening of excitonic emission from an ensemble of quantum dots is found to be extremely narrow, with a standard deviation of 1.19 meV. A dramatic improvement in the spectral purity of emission lines from individual dots is also reported (18–30 μeV ) when compared to the state-of-the-art for site controlled quantum dots.     

Effects of thermal annealing on the interband transitions of single and vertically stacked InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots

Photoluminescence (PL) measurements have been carried out to investigate the annealing effects in one-period and three-periods of InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) grown on GaAs substrates by using molecular beam epitaxy. After annealing, the PL spectra for the annealed InAs/GaAs QDs showed dramatic blue shifts and significant linewidth narrowing of the PL peaks compared with the as-grown samples. The variations in the PL peak position and the full width at half-maximum of the PL peak are attributed to changes in the composition of the InAs QDs resulting from the interdiffusion between the InAs QDs and the GaAs barrier and to the size homogeneity of the QDs. These results indicate that the optical properties and the crystal qualities of InAs/GaAs QDs are dramatically changed by thermal treatment.     

Insight into optical properties of strain-free quantum dot pairs

Self-assembled GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dot pairs (QDPs) are grown by molecular beam epitaxy using high temperature droplet epitaxy technique. A typical QDP consists of dual-size quantum dots as observed based on atomic force microscopy image. The average height of quantum dot is 5.7 nm for the large quantum dots and 4.6 nm for the small ones. The average peak-to-peak distance of the two dots is about 75 nm. The optical properties of GaAs QDPs are studied by measuring excitation power-dependent and temperature-dependent photoluminescence. Unique photoluminescence properties have been observed from both excitation power-dependent and temperature-dependent measurements. Excitation power-dependent as well as temperature-dependent PL measurements have suggested lateral exciton transfer in the QDPs.     

非晶Si/SiO2超晶格结构的交流电致发光

设计并用磁控溅射方法制备了非晶Si/SiO     

双层堆垛长波长InAs/GaAs量子点发光性质研究

研究了双层堆垛InAs/GaAs/InAs自组织量子点的生长和光致发光(PL)的物理性质。通过优化InAs淀积量、中间GaAs层厚度以及InAs量子点生长温度等生长条件,获得了室温光致发光1391～1438nm的高质量InAs量子点。研究发现对量子点GaAs间隔层实施原位退火、采用Sb辅助生长InGaAs盖层等方法可以增强高密度(2×1010 cm-2)InAs量子点的发光强度,减小光谱线宽,改善均匀性和红移发光波长。     

Emission of photoexcited charge carriers from InAs/GaAs quantum dots grown by gas-phase epitaxy

A model describing the emission of photoexcited electrons and holes from an array of InAs quantum dots into the GaAs matrix is suggested. The analytical expression obtained for the emission efficiency takes into account the thermal emission of charge carriers into the GaAs matrix and two-dimensional states of the InAs wetting layer, tunneling and thermally activated tunneling escape, and electron transitions between the quantum-confinement levels in the conduction band of InAs. The temperature dependences of the photosensitivity in the regions of the ground-state and first excited-state optical transitions in InAs/GaAs quantum dots grown by gas-phase epitaxy are investigated experimentally. A number of quantum dot parameters are determined by fitting the results of a theoretical calculation to the experimental data. Good agreement between the theoretical and experimental results is obtained in this way.     

Fabrication and optical properties of type‐II InP/InAs nanowire/quantum‐dot heterostructures

The growth and optical properties of InAs quantum dots on a pure zinc blende InP nanowire are investigated. The quantum dots are formed in Stranski–Krastanov mode and exhibit pure zinc blende crystal structure. A substantial blueshift of the dots peak with a cube‐root dependence on the excitation power is observed, suggesting a type‐II band alignment. The peak position of dots initially red‐shifts and then blue‐shifts with increasing temperature, which is attributed to the carrier redistribution among the quantum dots. (© 2016 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Nanophotonic droplet: a nanometric optical device consisting of size- and number-selective coupled quantum dots

Although recent advances in fabrication technologies have allowed the realization of highly accurate nanometric devices and systems, most approaches still lack uniformity and mass-production capability sufficient for practical use. We have previously demonstrated a novel technique for autonomously coupling heterogeneous quantum dots to induce particular optical responses based on a simple phonon-assisted photocuring method in which a mixture of quantum dots and photocurable polymer is irradiated with light. The cured polymer sequentially encapsulates coupled quantum dots, forming what we call a nanophotonic droplet. Recently, we found that each quantum dot in the mixture is preferably coupled with other quantum dots of similar size due to a size resonance effect of the optical near-field interactions between them. Moreover, every nanophotonic droplet is likely to contain the same number of coupled quantum dots. In this paper, we describe the basic mechanisms of autonomously fabricating nanophotonic droplets, and we examine the size- and number-selectivity of the quantum dots during their coupling process. The results from experiments show the uniformity of the optical properties of mass-produced nanophotonic droplets, revealed by emission from the contained coupled quantum dots, due to the fundamental characteristics of our method.     

Luminescence tuning of InAs/GaAs quantum dots grown on high-index planes

In this work we report the effects of the growth interruption on the optical and microscopic properties of InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots grown by molecular beam epitaxy on (100) and (311)B oriented GaAs substrates. The growth interruption applied after the deposition of the InAs layer strongly affects the optical and microscopic properties of the dots, thus providing evidence of strong nonequilibrium effects on dot self-assembly. These effects are enhanced for dots grown on high-index planes and can be used to tune the emission energy and to improve the luminescence intensity of the dots.     

Fabrication of a complex InAs ring-and-dot structure by droplet epitaxy

An InAs ring structure accompanying the formation of quantum dots (QDs) was fabricated on (1 0 0)GaAs using droplet epitaxy. The QDs were located in the vicinity of the ring, due to the diffusion of In atoms from the In droplets. In addition, the dots were found to have distributed elliptically and preferentially along the [0 1 1] direction, implying that In itself prefers to diffuse along the [0 1 1] direction, which is the opposite of the favorable diffusion orientation of group III atoms on (1 0 0)GaAs under a commonly used As-stabilized growth condition. This is the first observation of a ring structure accompanying the formation of quantum dots in droplet epitaxy.     

Strong Photoluminescence Enhancement from Colloidal Quantum Dot Near Silver Nano-Island Films

We present the fabrication and optical investigation of highly random self-assembled, nano-scale films, probing their influence on the luminescence properties of near surface CdSe/ZnS colloidal quantum dots. When compared to quantum dots distributed on unstructured quartz substrates, the average luminescence intensity is found to be enhanced by a factor of 160×. The silver nanoparticles are prepared using slow thermal evaporation on quartz substrates and post-deposition annealing to produce a randomly-arranged layer of smooth nano-islands. Clear polarization dependent hot spots are observed. Such hot spots deliver a maximal enhancement of the emission intensity of 240× and have a spatial density of (0.050±0.002) μm^− 2. The results show that silver nano-island films strongly enhance the optical efficiency of near quantum dots emitters.     

Optical investigation of InAs/InP(1 0 0) quantum dots grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy

We report on the optical characteristics of InAs quantum dots based on the InP(1 0 0) substrate grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy without assisting any other methods. The photoluminescence was carefully investigated by adjusting the thickness of InAs layers and the growth temperature. A wide range of emitting peaks is obtained with the increase in the thickness of InAs layers. In addition, we find that the morphology and shape of quantum dots also greatly depend on InAs layers. The images of atomic force microscopy show that the quantum dots like forming into quantum dashes elongated along the [0 1 ?1] direction when the thickness of InAs layers increased. A critical thickness of formation quantum dots or quantum dash is obtained. At the same time, we observe that the growth temperature also has a great impact on the emission wavelength peaks. High qualities of InAs/InP(1 0 0) quantum dots providing their emission wavelength in 1.55 μm are obtained, and good performances of quantum dots lasers are fabricated.     

Growth conditions effects on optical properties of InAs quantum dots grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs (1 1 3)A substrate

We have investigated the optical properties of InAs/GaAs (1 1 3)A quantum dots grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) with different growth rates by photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) as a function of the excitation density and the sample temperature (10–300 K). Reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) is used to investigate the formation process of InAs quantum dots (QDs). A redshift of the InAs QDs PL band emission was observed when the growth rate was increased. This result was explained by the increase of the InAs quantum dot size with increasing growth rate. A significant redshift was observed when the arsenic flux was decreased. The evolution of the PL peak energy with increasing temperature has showed an S-shaped form due to the localization effects and is attributed to the efficient relaxation process of carriers in different InAs quantum dots and to the exciton transfer localized at the wetting layer.