Full-Band Monte Carlo Simulation of HgCdTe APDs

A full-band Monte Carlo model has been developed for understanding the carrier multiplication process in HgCdTe infrared avalanche photodiodes. The proposed model is based on a realistic electronic structure obtained by pseudopotential calculations and a phonon dispersion relation determined by ab initio techniques. The calculated carrier–phonon scattering rates are consistent with the electronic structure and the phonon dispersion relation, thus removing adjustable parameters such as deformation potential coefficients. The computation of the impact ionization transition rate is based on the calculated electronic structure and the corresponding wavevector-dependent dielectric function. The Monte Carlo model is applied to investigate key performance figures of long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) and mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR) HgCdTe avalanche photodetectors such as carrier multiplication and noise properties. Good agreement is achieved between simulations and experimental results. The multiplication process in LWIR (λ _c = 9.0 μm at 80 K) and MWIR (λ _c = 5.1 μm at 80 K) devices is found to be initiated only by electrons, as expected from excess noise measurements. This single-carrier multiplication behavior can be traced back to the details of the computed valence-band structure and phonon scattering rates.     

Free carrier optical absorption at 10.6 μm in GaAs

Optical absorption measurements at 10.6 μm have been perfor-med in chromium doped GaAs samples using a calorimetric tech-nique at 300 K, and an optical system to determine the varia-tion of the absorption versus temperature between 300 K and 650 K. Hall effect measurements have also been carried out in the same temperature range. The optical absorption cross sec-tion for both electrons and holes are discussed and experi-mentally determined. A semi-empirical formula is deduced which permit the calculation of the 10.6 μm free carrier absorption at any temperature and doping level provided the electron mobility is known. Besides free carrier and multi-phonon absorption another mechanism must be considered to explain the experimental data. Possible effect of small pre-cipitates is discussed.     

Mode structure of laser emission from ZnO Nanorods with one metal mirror

The effect of the length of ZnO nanorods (500 nm in diameter) on the mode structure of their lasing in the ultraviolet spectral region is studied by optical luminescence microscopy. It is shown that separate nanorods with a metal mirror at one of the end faces exhibit only two or three laser modes at small nanoresonator lengths (8–20 μm). The different optical losses of longitudinal and transverse waveguide modes are established for nanorods lying on a glass substrate. An increase in the optical Q factor and a decrease in the lasing thresholds can be attributed to optical reflection from the metal mirror at the end face of the nanorod.     

Infrared reflectance and absorption of N-type InP

It has been shown that measurement of the infrared reflectance minimum frequency offers a simple, non-destructive method to determine carrier densities of n-type InP. Free carrier absorption has been measured for InP with carrier densities of 0.4-9 × l0¹⁸/cm³ in the spectral range of 1.1-l0μm and discussed in terms of optical phonon scattering and impurity scattering. In particular, the absorption at λ= 1.3μm should be considered in the design of long wavelength photodetectors and light emitting diodes to improve external quantum efficiencies.     

Effect of different loss mechanisms in SiGeSn based mid-infrared laser

We have analyzed the mid-infrared SiGeSn based Barrier-Well-Barrier Heterostracture and calculated the transparency carrier density and corresponding current density for the structure. The effects of different loss mechanisms like free carrier absorption, spontaneous recombination and Auger recombination processes on the transparency current density have been examined. It is shown that, the transparency current density increases significantly with the injected carrier density. Different scattering processes like acoustic phonon scattering and intervalley optical phonon scattering are taken into consideration for this analysis of free carrier absorption mechanisms.

     

Evidence from spectral emissometry for conduction intraband transitions in the intrinsic regime for silicon

From emissometry measurements in lightly doped Si at elevated temperatures, we have observed an anomalous absorption band in the wavelength range of 1–5 μm. The wavelength at which the band peaks, λ≈2.3 μm, shows a negligible dependence on temperature while the peak intensity increases with temperature presumably as a result of the increasing intrinsic carrier concentration. Spitzer and Fan reported a similar absorption band in direct absorption measurements at room temperature for n-type Si with extrinsic electron concentrations of 10¹⁴ to 10¹⁹cm⁻³. No such structure was found in extrinsic p-type Si. Spitzer and Fan were unable to identify the mechanism for this anomalous absorption. In both the experiments, this absorption of free electrons is due to intraband transitions in the conduction band from the Δ₁ conduction band edge across an energy gap of E ∼ 0.5 eV to a higher lying Δ₂′ conduction band.     

Far Infrared Investigation of Plasmon-LO Phonon Coupling and Surface Polaritons Modes in Donor Doped Cd1-xHgxTe and CdTe Thin Layer on GaAs Substrate

Infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy has been used to investigate phonon and plasmon modes in Cd_1-xHg_xTe and CdTe thin layer on GaAs substrate. Attenuated total reflection (ATR) spectroscopy has been used to excite surface plasmon and phonon polaritons. The plasmon-LO phonon coupling modes in samples are studied by dispersion curve calculation for various carrier concentrations. There exist three branches of coupled modes in dispersion curve. For analysis of the far infrared polarized reflectivity spectra we employ the harmonic oscillator dielectiic function model and the Drude model for free carrier response. We find that the coupling modes dependent to the concentration of free carriers. Furthermore, the experimental data have been used to calculate carrier concentration, composition parameter, mobility of carrier, thickness of layer and gap energy.     

Electron beam-induced current investigation of GaN Schottky diode

In this article, we report the electron beam-induced current (EBIC) measurements in a GaN Schottky diode performed in the line-scan configuration. A theoretical model with an extended generation source was used to accurately extract some minority carrier transport properties of the unintentionally doped n-GaN layer. The minority hole diffusion length is found to increase from ∼0.35 μm near the junction to ∼1.74 μm at the bulk regions. This change is attributed to an increase of the carrier lifetime caused by the polarization effects, which are preponderant in this component. For depth distances exceeding 0.65 μm, it is shown that the measured current is produced by the reabsorption recombination radiation process. This corresponds to an absorption coefficient of 0.178 μm⁻¹, in good agreement with the optical absorption measurement.     

Detailed study of above bandgap optical absorption in HgCdTe

HgCdTe remains the material of choice for high-performance infrared (IR) detectors due to its tunable direct bandgap energy corresponding to the IR spectral region, and the advancement of HgCdTe materials growth and processing technologies. Accurate knowledge of the HgCdTe optical absorption coefficient is important for IR detector design, layer screening, and device analysis. The spectral response for IR detectors is dependent on optical absorption above the bandgap energy, where much of the study of absorption coefficient in HgCdTe has focused on the bandtail region. In this work, the optical absorption coefficient was studied by theoretical bandstructure calculations and experimental measurements on HgCdTe layers using techniques of IR spectroscopic ellipsometry and IR transmission. The theoretical and experimental results suggest that the absorption coefficient between 600 cm⁻¹ and 5,000 cm⁻¹ is related to energy relative to bandgap with a fractional exponent between 0.6 and 1, rather than the previously used expressions relating to a parabolic or hyperbolic bandstructure. The fitting parameters for Hg_1-xCd_xTe with x=0.22–0.60 are presented to develop a model for the optical absorption coefficient spectra. The calculated detector spectral response using the new and previously reported absorption coefficient models suggests that next generation IR detectors employing multilayer structures with graded compositional profiles will likely benefit from this new model.     

Infrared absorption behavior in CdZnTe substrates

Infrared (IR) optical transmission measurements of polished CdZnTe wafers can provide useful information about excess impurities, stoichiometry, and inhomogeneities (precipitates and inclusions). We have investigated the IR transmission behavior of Cd_0.96Zn_0.04Te between 8 m and 20 m at room temperature. The measurements were made before and after thermal treatments involving control of the Cd and Zn overpressures, which served to minimize the Cd (cation) vacancy population. Our results support the polar optical phonon scattering theory of Jensen, according to which the absorption in donor dominated CdZnTe varies as^m with m=3. For material dominated by acceptors, we show that the theoretical absorption by inter-valence band transitions can be approximated by a similar power law with exponent m=1, and that Cd-vacancy dominated wafers are in reasonable agreement with this. We find some wafers in which the asgrown condition exhibits partial compensation of impurity donors by Cd vacancy acceptors, and demonstrate removal of the compensation by annealing to fill the vacancies. In a separate group of wafers, we find that an observed increase in absorption occurring during growth of a HgCdTe layer by liquid phase epitaxy can be explained in terms of an increase in Cd vacancies caused by diffusion of Cd to Te precipitates. This effect can be reversed by annealing in Cd−Zn vapor, which fills vacancies and eliminates some precipitates. Impurity concentrations were measured by glow discharge mass spectrometry (GDMS).     

Precipitation in CdTe crystals studied through mie scattering

Below gap optical losses in as-grown n-type CdTe crystals were analyzed in terms of free carrier absorption and Mie extinction due to Te precipitates. Experimental absorption spectra measured between 2 to 20 μm exhibited the well-known free carrier absorption behavior α_FCA∼λ^x with x=3 due to scattering by polar optical phonons. In shorter wavelength regions below 6 μm, however, additional contributions to the light loss due to absorption and scattering by precipitates were also observed. Assuming a log-normal size distribution, the precipitate extinction spectra were calculated according to Mie theory within the electric and magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole approximation. A comparison with the experimental spectra identifies the precipitates and enables estimation of their sizes and total number density. In this investigation, both undoped and In-doped CdTe crystals grown from stoichiometric melts by vertical asymmetric Bridgman method were used. It was found that In doping, in general, suppresses Te precipitation. At high doping level (melt containing∼10¹⁹ In atoms cm⁻³), the formation of In₂Te₂ is also indicated. It is demonstrated that the Mie extinction analysis offers an, expedient method to rapidly analyze the precipitates in CdTe and in similar other wide gap materials in a nondestructive manner.     

Optical absorption properties of HgCdTe epilayers with uniform composition

Hg_1−xCd_xTe is an important material for high-performance infrared detection for a wide spectral range, from 1.7 μm to beyond 14 μm. An accurate understanding of the relationship between optical absorption and bandgap energy of this semiconductor alloy is needed for pre-process layer screening, detector design, and interpretation of detector performance. There is currently a disparity among the infrared detector community in relating the optical absorption properties to HgCdTe alloy composition and bandgap energy. This disagreement may stem from a misunderstanding of absorption properties, where existing models were developed decades ago using either bulk material or material with nonuniform composition. In this work, we have initiated an investigation of the optical absorption properties of HgCdTe with uniform composition grown by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) with in-situ compositional control via spectroscopic ellipsometry. The absorption properties show unique characteristics in the bandtail region, with insignificant temperature dependence. The absorption properties above the bandgap suggest a hyperbolic bandstructure as opposed to the common assumption of a parabolic bandstructure. The temperature dependence of the bandgap energy shows good agreement to the commonly used expression developed previously by Hansen et al.     

Absorption of a strong electromagnetic wave by electrons in a superlattice in a quantizing electric field

Intraminiband absorption of light by electrons in a quantum superlattice in a quantizing electric field is investigated theoretically taking into account the electron-phonon interaction. It is assumed that the interaction with optical dispersion-free phonons makes the main contribution to electron scattering. It is shown that the point ω=ω ₀ (ω is the light frequency, and ω ₀ is the optical phonon frequency) conditionally divides the ω dependence of the absorption into two parts: ω<ω ₀, the region of exponentially weak absorption and ω>ω ₀, the region of “strong” absorption. An electric field shifts the region of strong absorption in the red direction of the spectrum. Fiz. Tekh. Poluprovodn. 33, 1355–1358 (November 1999)     

Nonlinear gain coefficients in semiconductor lasers: effects ofcarrier heating

Nonlinear gain coefficients due to the effects of carrier heating are derived from the rate equations of carrier energy transfer in semiconductor lasers. We find that, in the modulation responses of semiconductor lasers, stimulated recombination heating will affect the resonant frequency and damping rate in a same form as the effects of spectral hole burning, while free carrier absorption heating will only affect the damping rate. The effects of injection heating and nonstimulated recombination heating are also discussed. The carrier energy relaxation time is calculated from first principles by considering the interactions between carriers and polar optical phonons, deformation potential optical phonons, deformation potential acoustic phonons, piezoelectric acoustic phonons. At the same time, the hot phonon effects associated with the optical phonons are evaluated because their negligible group velocity and finite decay time. We show that the carrier-polar longitudinal optical phonon interaction is the major channel of carrier energy relaxation processes for both electron and holes. We also point out the importance of the longitudinal optical phonon lifetime in evaluating the carrier energy relaxation time. Neglecting the finite decay time of longitudinal optical phonons will significantly underestimate the carrier energy relaxation time, this not only contradicts the experimental results but also severely underestimates the nonlinear gain coefficients due to carrier heating. The effects of spectral hole burning, stimulated recombination heating, and free carrier absorption heating on limiting the modulation bandwidth in semiconductor lasers are also discussed     

Electrons and phonons in quantum wells

The modulation of electron and polar optical phonon states in an AlGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well (QW) with an inserted thin AlAs barrier is considered. The OW width dependence of electron-phonon scattering rates are estimated. The large contribution to the change of the electron subband population, the photovoltaic effect, and the electron mobility in the QW accounts for the resonant intersubband scattering of electrons by interface phonons. The decrease of electron mobility limited by polar optical phonon scattering with increasing carrier concentration in the QW is established. The conditions for the increase of mobility in the QW by inserting the AlAs barrier are found. Fiz. Tekh. Poluprovodn. 33, 1049–1053 (September 1999) This article was published in English in the original Russian journal. Reproduced here with stylistic changes by the Translation Editor.     

Influence of native defects on the infrared transmission of undoped Ga<Subscript>1−x</Subscript>In<Subscript>x</Subscript>Sb bulk crystals

The below bandgap infrared transmission (up to 25 μm) in undoped Ga_1−xIn_xSb bulk crystals has been studied for the first time and found to be limited by native defects such as antisites and vacancies found in antimonide-based III–V compounds. For the gallium-rich alloy compositions (x<0.5 in Ga_1−xIn_xSb), the crystals exhibit p-type conductivity with an increase in net acceptor concentration and an increase in gallium content in the crystals. For x>0.5 (the indium-rich alloy compositions), the crystals exhibit n-type conductivity when the net donor concentration and indium content in the crystals increase. A correlation between the optical transmission and the residual carrier concentration arising from the native acceptors and donors has been observed. Due to donor-acceptor compensation, crystals with alloy compositions in the range of x=0.5−0.7 exhibit high optical transmission for a wide wavelength range (up to 22 μm). The light hole to heavy hole interband transition in the valence band and the free electron absorption in the conduction band have been found to be the two dominant absorption processes.     

Carrier gas and VI/II ratio effects on carbon clusters incorporation into ZnO films grown by MOCVD

Undoped ZnO films were deposited by atmospheric metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on (0001) ZnO substrate. The films were grown at various partial pressure ratios of oxygen and zinc precursors (VI/II) using either N₂ or H₂ as carrier gas. Micro-Raman scattering was employed to study the effects of carrier gas, VI/II ratio and annealing on carbon impurity incorporation into the ZnO films. Besides the well known phonon modes of ZnO, Raman spectra of the samples grown with N₂ carrier gas show two additional broad peaks, which are ascribed to carbon sp² clusters related modes, spreading in the frequency range 1300–1600 cm^?1 and dominate the Raman spectrum of the sample grown under oxygen deficiency (VI/II=0.25). In addition, a band centered at ～520 cm^?1, considered as some defects related local vibrations, appears in the samples grown with N₂ as carrier gas and its intensity increases when the VI/II ratio decreases. The average cluster size, estimated from the intensity ratio of D over G bands of the carbon sp² clusters, ranges from 16.5 to 19.4 Å. However, in all the samples grown with H₂ as carrier gas, the bands related to carbon sp² clusters and defects, are largely suppressed and the second-order-Raman scattering band (1050–1200 cm^?1) is clearly observed in addition to the bulk ZnO lattice modes. After annealing the samples at 900 °C in oxygen ambient, the crystal quality has been improved for all the samples but the carbon related bands, formed in the as-deposited films grown with the N₂ carrier gas, were only weakened.     

Optoelectronic properties of expanding thermal plasma deposited textured zinc oxide: Effect of aluminum doping

Aluminum-doped zinc oxide films exhibiting a rough surface morphology are deposited on glass substrates utilizing expanding thermal plasma. Spectroscopic ellipsometry is used to evaluate optical and electronic film properties. The presence of aluminum donors in doped films is confirmed by a shift in the zinc oxide bandgap energy from 3.32 to 3.65 eV. In combination with transmission reflection measurements in the visible and NIR ranges, charge carrier densities, optical mobilities, and film resistivities have been obtained from the free carrier absorption. Film resistivities are consistent with direct measurements, values as low as 6.0×10⁻⁴ ω cm have been obtained. The interdependence of electrical conductivity, film composition, and film morphology is addressed.     

Relaxing the Conductivity/Transparency Trade‐Off in MOCVD ZnO Thin Films by Hydrogen Plasma

Increasing the conductivity of polycrystalline zinc oxide films without impacting the transparency is a key aspect in the race to find affordable and high quality material as replacement of indium‐containing oxides. Usually, ZnO film conductivity is provided by a high doping and electron concentration, detrimental to transparency, because of free carrier absorption. Here we show that hydrogen post‐deposition plasma treatment applied to ZnO films prepared by metalorganic low‐pressure chemical vapor deposition allows a relaxation of the constraints of the conductivity/transparency trade‐off. Upon treatment, an increase in electron concentration and Hall mobility is observed. The mobility reaches high values of 58 and 46 cm²V^?1s^?1 for 2‐μm‐ and 350‐nm‐thick films, respectively, without altering the visible range transparency. From a combination of opto‐electronic measurements, hydrogen is found, in particular, to reduce electron trap density at grain boundaries. After treatment, the values for intragrain or optical mobility are found similar to Hall mobility, and therefore, electron conduction is found to be no longer limited by the phenomenon of grain boundary scattering. This allows to achieve mobilities close to 60 cm²V^?1s^?1, even in ultra‐transparent films with carrier concentration as low as 10¹⁹ cm^?3.     

The Investigation of Plasmon-Longitudinal Optical Phonon Coupling and Surface Polariton Modes in Donor Doped GaAs-Al0.33Ga0.67As Multi Quantum Wells

Infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy has been used to investigate phonon, plasmon, surface polariton and plasma-longitudinal optical phonon coupling in highly donor doped multi quantum wells (GaAs/Al_0.33Ga_0.67As) and direct band gap n- type Al_XGa_1-XAs thin layer on GaAs substrate. Using different samples with different concentration of free carriers. The dispersion equation of coupling modes have been calculated by using the condition which the dielectric functions of samples are zero for longitudinal coupled modes and experimental papameters which have been obtained from the best fit p-polarized oblique incidence far infrared reflection spectra. In MQW samples, the free carriers confined to the well and carriers are quasi two dimensional. So, plasmon- LO phonon coupling occur in the well (GaAs). In n- type Al_XGa_1-XAs thin layer, the coupled modes consist of three branches of the high, intermediate and low frequency modes. Their frequencies depend on both concentration and alloy composition. To analyses the surface polariton modes we carry out attenuated total reflection (ATR) measurements. In order to support our assignment the magnetic field profiles and surface polariton dispersion curves have been calculated.