Composition of the “GaAs” quantum dot,grown by droplet epitaxy

Self-assembled strain-free quantum dot (QD) structures were grown on AlGaAs surface by the droplet epitaxal method. The QDs were developed from pure Ga droplets under As pressure. The QDs were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Both techniques show that the QDs are very uniform in size and their distribution on the surface is also homogeneous. The high resolution cross-sectional TEM investigation shows perfect lattice matching between the QD and the substrate, and also the faceting of the side walls of QD can be identified exactly by lattice planes. Analytical TEM (elemental mapping by EELS) unambiguously identifies the presence of Al in the QD.     

Characterization of [ZnO]m[ZnMgO]n multiple quantum wells grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Thermal stability of single-crystalline [ZnO]_m[Zn_0.7Mg_0.3O]_n multiple quantum wells (MQWs) grown on a-plane sapphire substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy is reported. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that these MQWs were grown as designed with a fixed Zn_0.7Mg_0.3O barrier width of and a series of ZnO well widths of . Cathodoluminescence spectra from these MQWs consisted of two major peaks; one was the emission from the bound excitons in Zn_0.7Mg_0.3O barrier layers, and the other was that from the confined excitons in ZnO well layers. These structural and optical properties were found to be dramatically changed by the ex situ annealing treatments over 700 °C. These changes were presumably due to the onset of phase separation of the Zn_0.7Mg_0.3O barrier layers with pronounced Mg diffusion toward the ZnO wells.     

Long wavelength InAs self-assembled quantum dots embedded in GaNAs strain-compensating layers

We investigated the effect of GaNAs strain-compensating layers (SCLs) on the properties of InAs self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) grown on GaAs (0 0 1) substrates. The GaNAs material can be used as SCL thereby minimizing the net strain, and thus is advantageous for multi-stacking of InAs QDs structures and achieving long wavelength emission. The emission wavelength of InAs QDs can be tuned by changing the nitrogen (N) composition in GaNAs SCLs due to both effects of strain compensation and lowering of potential barrier height. A photoluminescence emission at 77 K was clearly observed for sample with GaN_0.024As_0.976 SCL. Further, we observed an improvement of optical properties of InAs QDs by replacing the more popular GaAs embedding layers with GaNAs SCLs, which is a result of decreasing non-radiative defects owing to minimizing the total net strain.     

Atomistic study of GaSe/Ge(111) interface formed through van der Waals epitaxy

Layered materials can be grown on various substrates through van der Waals epitaxy (vdWE) regardless of lattice mismatch. The atomistic study of the film-substrate interface in vdWE is becoming increasingly important due to their expected applications as two-dimensional (2D) materials. In this contribution, we have grown GaSe thin films on Ge(111) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy and studied the GaSe/Ge(111) interface using high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM). Cross-sectional HAADF-STEM observations revealed that the grown layers adopt predominantly the expected wurtzite-like structure and stacking, but layers with zinc-blende-like structure, similar to Ga₂Se₃ but apparently different, and other layer stacking sequences, exist locally near the film-substrate interface. These results demonstrate that even in vdWE, structural changes can occur in the grown layers adjacent to the substrate, highlighting the importance of such interface for synthesizing and applying ultimately thin 2D materials.     

Stacking of multilayer InAs quantum dots with combination capping of InAlGaAs and high temperature grown GaAs

We are reporting the growth of multilayer stacks of quantum dots (10 periods) with a combination capping of In_0.21Al_0.21Ga_0.58As (30 Å) and GaAs (70–180 Å) grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) has been used for the insitu monitoring of quantum dot (QD) formation in heterostructure samples. The samples were also characterized by other exsitu techniques like cross sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) and photoluminescence measurements (PL). For a heterostructure sample with thin barrier thickness (<100 Å), an XTEM image showed the stacking of QDs only up to the 5th layer and in the upper layers there was hardly any formation of dots. We presume the stoppage of dot formation is due to the uneven surface of the InAlGaAs alloy overgrown on the InAs QDs, as a result of the local compositional deviations of the Group-III atoms. Samples grown with thicker barriers (>100 Å of GaAs) showed good stacking of islands until the tenth layer. The thick GaAs layer overgrown on the InAlGaAs at 590 ^°C is believed to remove the surface modifications of the quaternary layer thereby creating a smoother surface front for the growth of subsequent QD layers.     

ZnO薄膜的分子束外延生长及性能

利用分子束外延(MBE)和氧等离子体源辅助MBE方法分别在Si(100)、GaAs(100)和蓝宝石Al2O3(0001)衬底上用Zn、ZnS或以一定Zn-O化学计量比作缓冲层,改变衬底生长温度和氧压,并在氧气氛下,进行原位退火处理,得到ZnO薄膜。依据X射线衍射(XRD)图,表明样品的结晶性能尚好,且呈c轴择优取向;实验结果表明在不同衬底上生长的ZnO薄膜,由于晶格失配度不同,其衍射峰也有区别。用原子力显微镜(AFM)观测薄膜的表面形貌,为晶粒尺寸约几十纳米的ZnO纳米晶,且ZnO晶粒呈六边形柱状垂直于衬底的表面。采用掠入射X射线反射率法测膜厚。在360nm激发下,样品的发光光谱是峰值为410,510nm的双峰谱,是与样品表面氧缺陷有关的深能级发光。     

InAs Quantum Dots On (001) GaAs Substrate with two Groups of Different Sizes Under Arsenic Shutter Closed Condition

The effect of temperature on the self-assembled InAs quantum dots (QDs) grown on GaAs substrate under arsenic shutter closed condition has been studied. From atomic force microscopy (AFM), it was found that the size of InAs dots exhibited a transition from single-sized uniformly distributed quantum dot (QD) at a growth temperature of 490°C to two groups of different sizes QDs at 510°C. Since the desorption rate of In atoms from the substrate surface is very high at 510°C, a growth model is proposed that attributes the larger sized QDs to the enhanced capture of desorbed In atoms by a local random protrusion which initiates a regenerative capture and growth process and leads to explosive growth.     

Effects of phosphorous beam equivalent pressure on GaInAsP/GaAs grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy with a valve phosphorous cracker cell

We report the growth and characterization of GaInAsP films on GaAs substrates by solid source molecular beam epitaxy (SSMBE) using a valve phosphorous cracker cell at varied white phosphorous beam equivalent pressure (BEP). It is found that the GaInAsP/GaAs can be easily grown with the solid sources, and the incorporated phosphorous composition as a function of the beam equivalent pressure ratio, R=f_P/(f_P+f_As), can be well described by a parabolic relationship. With the increase of the incorporated phosphorous composition, the GaP-, InP-, InAs- and GaAs-like phonon modes shift towards opposite directions and their emission intensities also change. The first three modes shift to larger wave numbers while the last one shifts to smaller wave number. The lattice mismatch, Δa/a, of the materials grown with varied phosphorous BEP follows a linear relationship. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements reveal that as the phosphorous BEP ratio increases, the peak position or energy band gap of the material shifts towards higher energy; the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) becomes narrower, and the luminescence intensity becomes higher. In addition, the materials also show smooth surfaces that do not change significantly with phosphorous beam equivalent pressure.     

Temperature quenching mechanisms for photoluminescence of MBE-grown chlorine-doped ZnSe epilayers

We report on a detailed investigation on the temperature-dependent behavior of photoluminescence from molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)-grown chlorine-doped ZnSe epilayers. The overwhelming neutral donor bound exciton (Cl⁰X) emission at 2.797 eV near the band edge with a full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 13 meV reveals the high crystalline quality of the samples used. In our experiments, the quick quenching of the Cl⁰X line above 200 K is mainly due to the presence of a nonradiative center with a thermal activation energy of 90 meV. The same activation energy and similar quenching tendency of the Cl⁰X line and the I₃ line at 2.713 eV indicate that they originate from the same physical mechanism. We demonstrate for the first time that the dominant decrease of the integrated intensity of the I₃ line is due to the thermal excitation of the “I₃ center”-bound excitons to its free exciton states, leaving the “I₃ centers” as efficient nonradiative centers. The optical performance of ZnSe materials is expected to be greatly improved if the density of the “I₃ center” can be controlled. The decrease in the luminescence intensity at moderately low temperature (30–200 K) of the Cl⁰X line is due to the thermal activation of neutral-donor-bound excitons (Cl⁰X) to free excitons.     

Formation and dissolution of InAs quantum dots on GaAs

In situ reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) has been used to study the time evolution during self-assembled molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth of InAs quantum dots on GaAs. Using a special data acquisition technique, two characteristic time constants are determined very precisely: the time t_c up to the first appearance of InAs dots and the time t_f it takes to complete the 2D–3D transition of all islands. Surprisingly, we find that t_c increases with temperature which disagrees with a thermally activated process. In contrast to this, t_f behaves Arrhenius-like and an activation energy of E_f0.39 eV is determined. Furthermore, the sum t_c+t_f does not depend significantly on temperature and corresponds to an InAs coverage of 2.0 monolayers. A second focus of this paper is the study of dissolution of InAs dots after interruption of the As flux. From the experiments, an activation energy of 3.2 eV for desorption of In located on top of the wetting layer is determined, whereas direct desorption from the wetting layer corresponds to an activation energy of 3.4 eV.