Strain-Compensated InGaAs/InAlAs Quantum Cascade Detector of 4.5 μm Operating at Room Temperature

We present a strain-compensated InP-based InGaAs/InAlAs photovoltaic quantum cascade detector grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy. The detector is based on a vertical intersubband transition and electron transfer on a cascade of quantum levels which is designed to provide longitudinal optical phonon extraction stairs. By careful structure design and growth, the whole epilayer has a residual strain toward InP substrate of only -2.8× 10^-4. A clear narrow band detection spectrum centered at 4.5 μm has been observed above room temperature for a device with 200／times 200 ×μm^2 square mesa.     

High-Duty-Cycle Operation of GaAs/AlGaAs Quantum Cascade Laser above Liquid Nitrogen Temperature

We present a detailed study of λ- 9.75 μm GaAs/AlGaAs quantum cascade lasers. For a coated 2-rmm-long and 40-μm-wide laser, an optical power of 85 μ W is observed at 95% duty cycle at 80K. At a moderate driving pulse （1 kHz and 1% duty cycle）,the device presents a peak power more than 20mW even at 120K. At 80K, the fitted result of threshold current densities shows evidence of potential cw operation.     

快速热处理对应变InGaAs/GaAs单量子阱激光二极管电子发射和DX中心的影响

研究分子束外延(MBE)生长的应变In0.2Ga0.8AsGaAs折射率梯度变化异质结单量子阱激光二极管的快速热处理(RTA)效应.结果表明,RTA移除了InGaAsGaAs界面非辐射中心,提高77K光致发光效率和有源层电子发射.同时Al和Ga原子互扩散,也增加了AlGaAs波导层DX中心浓度.RTA处理后样品电流冲击老化实验证明DX中心浓度呈现出相应的增加.这表明DX中心可能是激光二极管性能退化的原因之一. 关键词： 量子阱 快速热处理 电子发射 DX中心     

Photoluminescence Investigation of Two-Dimensional Electron Gas in an Undoped AlxGa1-xN／GaN Heterostructure

Low-temperature photoluminescence measurement is performed on an undoped AlxGa1-xN/GaN heterostructure. Temperature-dependent Hall mobility confirms the formation of two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) near the heterointerface. A weak photoluminescence (PL) peak with the energy of - 79meV lower than the free exciton (FE) emission of bulk GaN is related to the radiative recombination between electrons confined in the triangular well and the holes near the fiat-band region of GaN. Its identification is supported by the solution of coupled one-dimensional Poisson and Schr6dinger equations. When the temperature increases, the red shift of the 2DEG related emission peak is slower than that of the FE peak. The enhanced screening effect coming from the increasing 2DEG concentration and the varying electron distribution at two lowest subbands as a function of temperature account for such behaviour.     

Electron mobility limited by surface and interface roughness scattering in AlxGa1-xN/GaN quantum wells

The electron mobility limited by the interface and surface roughness scatterings of the two-dimensional electron gas in AlxGa1-xN/GaN quantum wells is studied. The newly proposed surface roughness scattering in the AlGaN/GaN quantum wells becomes effective when an electric field exists in the AlxGa1-xN barrier. For the AlGaN/GaN potential well, the ground subband energy is governed by the spontaneous and the piezoelectric polarization fields which are determined by the barrier and the well thicknesses. The thickness fluctuation of the AlGaN barrier and the GaN well due to the roughnesses cause the local fluctuation of the ground subband energy, which will reduce the 2DEG mobility.     

Influence of Schottky drain contacts on the strained AlGaN barrier layer of AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors

Rectangular Schottky drain AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors (HFETs) with different gate contact areas and conventional AlGaN/AlN/GaN HFETs as control were both fabricated with same size. It was found there is a significant difference between Schottky drain AlGaN/AlN/GaN HFETs and the control group both in drain series resistance and in two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) electron mobility in the gate-drain channel. We attribute this to the different influence of Ohmic drain contacts and Schottky drain contacts on the strained AlGaN barrier layer. For conventional AlGaN/AlN/GaN HFETs, annealing drain Ohmic contacts gives rise to a strain variation in the AlGaN barrier layer between the gate contacts and the drain contacts, and results in strong polarization Coulomb field scattering in this region. In Schottky drain AlGaN/AlN/GaN HFETs, the strain in the AlGaN barrier layer is distributed more regularly.     

Spin Transport under In-plane Electric Fields with Different Orientations in Undoped InGaAs/AlGaAs Multiple Quantum Wells

The spin-polarized photocurrent is used to study the in-plane electric field dependent spin transport in undoped InGaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum wells. In the temperature range of 77–297 K, the spin-polarized photocurrent shows an anisotropic spin transport under different oriented in-plane electric fields. We ascribe this characteristic to two dominant mechanisms: the hot phonon effect and the Rashba spin-orbit effect which is influenced by the in-plane electric fields with different orientations. The formulas are proposed to fit our experiments, suggesting a guide of potential applications and devices.     

Single-mode surface-emitting distributed feedback quantum-cascade lasers based on hybrid waveguide structure

Surface-emitting distributed feedback quantum-cascade lasers operating at λ≈7.8 μm are demonstrated. The metal-covered second-order grating is shallow-etched into the surface of a thin InGaAs contact and cladding layer. This forms a hybrid waveguide and used to achieve relatively low waveguide losses and high coupling strengths. The devices exhibit stable single-mode operation from 90 to 130 K with a side mode suppression ratio above 20 dB. A slope efficiency of 194 mW/A is obtained at 90 K, which is twice higher than that of the Fabry-Perot counterpart.     

High power-efficiency terahertz quantum cascade laser

We demonstrate continuous-wave(CW) high power-efficiency terahertz quantum cascade laser based on semiinsulating surface-plasmon waveguide with epitaxial-side down(Epi-down) mounting process.The performance of the device is analyzed in detail.The laser emits at a frequency of ~3.27 THz and has a maximum CW operating temperature of ~ 70 K.The peak output powers are 177 mW in pulsed mode and 149 mW in CW mode at 10 K for 130-μm-wide Epi-down mounted lasers.The record wall-plug efficiencies in direct measurement are 2.26% and 2.05% in pulsed and CW mode,respectively.