Effect of thin strain-compensated Al0.6Ga0.4P layers on the growth of multiple-stacked InP/In0.5Al0.3Ga0.2P quantum dots

Multiple-stacked InP self-assembled quantum dots (SAQD or QD) were grown on an In_0.5Al_0.3Ga_0.2P matrix lattice-matched on a GaAs (001) substrate using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Cathodoluminescence (CL) scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy were employed to characterize the optical, morphological, and structural properties of the grown QDs. We found that the CL line width broadens and the surface becomes rough with an increase in the number of stacked QD layers in the structure. However, by introducing thin tensile-strained Al_0.6Ga_0.4P layers in the middle of In_0.5Al_0.3Ga_0.2P spacer layers to compensate the compressive strain of the InP QD layers, the CL and morphology are significantly improved. Using this technique, 30-stacked InP/In_0.5Al_0.3Ga_0.2P QD structures with improved CL properties and surface morphology were realized.     

Dislocation-Induced deep level states in In0.08Ga0.92As/GaAs heterostructures

We have performed luminescence experiments on In_0.08Ga_0.92As/GaAs heterointerfaces to explore the energy distribution of deep level states in the bandgap for two cases: (1) unrelaxed, pseudomorphic In_0.08Ga_0.92As films (200Å thick), which have few if any dislocations at the interface, and (2) partially relaxed In_0.08Ga_0.92As films (1000Å thick) which are expected to have a substantial interfacial dislocation density. A combined photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence technique is used which allows us to profile the sample luminescence through the buried interface region. Our results show the existence of deep level luminescent features characteristic of the GaAs substrate and features common to In_0.08Ga_0.92As and GaAs, as well as the existence of a deep level feature near 1 eV photon energy which undergoes a shift in energy depending upon the degree of strain relaxation in the In_0.08Ga_0.92As film. In addition, a deep level feature near 0.83 eV becomes prominent only in In_0.08Ga_0.92As films which have relaxed, and thus contain misfit dislocations at the interface. These deep level differences may be due to bandgap states associated with the intrinsic dislocation structure, impurities segregated at the dislocation, or bulk point defects, or threading dislocations generated during the strain relaxation. Previous work has determined that a deep level state 0.7 eV above the valence band edge would account for the electrical behavior of relaxed In_0.08Ga_0.92As/GaAs interfaces, which is in good agreement with the range of deep level transitions near 0.8 eV photon energy which we observe. These measurements suggest that photo- and cathodoluminescence measurements of deep level emission in these III-V semiconductors can provide a useful indicator of electrically active defect densities associated with misfit dislocations.     

Plasma and wet chemical etching of In0.5Ga0.5P

Dry and wet chemical etching of epitaxial In_{0, 5}Ga_0.5P layers grown on GaAs substrates by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy have been investigated. For chlorine-based dry etch mixtures (PCl₃/Ar or CC1₂F₂/Ar) the etching rate of InGaP increases linearly with dc self-bias on the sample, whereas CH₄/H₂-based mixtures produce slower etch rates. Selectivities of ≥500 for etching GaAs over InGaP are obtained under low bias conditions with PCl₃/Ar, but the surface morphologies of InGaP are rough. Both CC1₂F₂/Ar and CH₄/H₂/Ar mixtures produce smooth surface morphologies and good (≥10) selectivities for etching GaAs over InGaP. The wet chemical etching rates of InGaP in H₃PO₄:HC1:H₂O mixtures has been systemically measured as a function of etch formulation and are most rapid (∼1 μn · min⁻¹) for high HCl compositions. The etch rate,R, in a 1:1:1 mixture is thermally activated of the formR ∝ , whereE _a = 11.25 kCal · mole⁻¹. This is consistent with the etching being reaction-limited at the surface. This etch mixture is selective for InGaP over GaAs.     

OMVPE growth of In0.53Ga0.47As on InP using tertiarybutylarsine

We have successfully grown bulk In_0.53Ga_0.47As on InP using tertiarybutylarsine (TBA), trimethylindium and trimethylgallium. The growth temperature was 602° and the V/III ratio ranged from 19 to 38. Net carrier concentrations were 2 – 4 × 10¹⁵ cm^-3, n-type, with a peak 77 K mobility of 68,000 cm²/V. sec. Increasing compensation was observed in In_0.53Ga_0.47As grown at higher V/III ratios. PL spectra taken at 5 K revealed strong near bandgap emission at 0.81 eV—with the best sample having a FWHM of 2.5 meV. At lower energies, donor-acceptor pair transitions were evident. Strong and sharp 5 K PL emission was observed from InP/In_0.53Ga_0.47As/InP quantum wells grown with TBA.     

Properties and use of ln0.5(AlxGa1-x)0.5P and AlxGa1-x as native oxides in heterostructure lasers

Data are presented demonstrating the formation of native oxides from high Al composition In_0.5(Al_xGa_1-x)_0.5P (x≳ 0.9) by simple annealing in a “wet” ambient. The oxidation occurs by reaction of the high Al composition crystal with H₂O vapor (in a N₂ carrier gas) at elevated temperatures (≥500° C) and results in stable transparent oxides. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) as well as scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) are employed to evaluate the oxide properties, composition, and oxide-semiconductor interface. The properties of native oxides of the In_0.5(Al_xGa_1-x)_0.5P system are compared to those of the Al_xGa_1-xAs system. Possible reaction mechanisms and oxidation kinetics are considered. The In_0.5(Al_xGa_1-x)_0.5P native oxide is shown to be of sufficient quality to be employed in the fabrication of stripe-geometry In_0.5(Al_xGa_1-x)_0.5P visible-spectrum laser diodes.     

Interface trap and interface depletion in lattice-mismatched GaInAs/GaAs heterostructures

The effects of lattice mismatch on the deep traps and interface depletion have been studied for the Ga_0.92In_0.08As(p⁺)/GaAs(N) and Ga_0.92In_0.08As(n)/GaAs(SI) heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy. We have used deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) and admittance spectroscopy (AS) and observed two hole traps, one at an energy ranging from 0.1 to 0.4 eV and the other at 0.64 eV, and two electron traps at 0.49 and 0.83 eV in the GalnAs/GaAsp ⁺-N junction sample. The hole trap appeared as a broad peak in the DLTS data and its energy distribution (0.1 ∼ 0.4 eV) was obtained by a simulation fitting of the peak. Concentration of this distributed hole trap increased as the in-plane mismatch increased, suggesting its relation to defects induced by lattice relaxation, whereas the other traps are from the bulk. The misfit dislocations are believed to be responsible for the interface trap. For the Ga_0.92In_0.08As(n)/GaAs(SI) samples, Hall effect measurements showed an increased interface depletion width of about 0.14 Μm for the 0.5 Μm thick layer and about 0.12 /gmm for the 0.25 Μm thick layer, while a corresponding GaAs/GaAs sample had only 0.088 Μm for the interface depletion width.     

The effect of selenium doping on the optical and structural properties of Ga0.5ln0.5P

Selenium doping at an electron concentration of 10¹⁸ – 10¹⁹ cm⁻³ is shown to cause an increase in both the band gap and the disorder of Ga_0.5In_0.5P films grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on GaAs substrates. The effect of selenium is shown to be very similar to that of the p-type dopants, zinc and magnesium. Selenium doping is also shown to have a dramatic smoothing effect on the surface morphology of Ga_0.5In_0.5P films.     

Photoluminescence study on coarsening of self-assembled InAlAs quantum dots on GaAs (001)

Red-emission at ∼640 nm from self-assembled In_0.55Al_0.45As/Al_0.5Ga_0.5As quantum dots grown on GaAs substrate by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) has been demonstrated. We obtained a double-peak structure of photoluminescence (PL) spectra from quantum dots. An atomic force micrograph (AFM) image for uncapped sample also shows a bimodal distribution of dot sizes. From the temperature and excitation intensity dependence of PL spectra, we found that the double-peak structure of PL spectra from quantum dots was strongly correlated to the two predominant quantum dot families. Taking into account quantum-size effect on the peak energy, we propose that the high (low) energy peak results from a smaller (larger) dot family, and this result is identical with the statistical distribution of dot lateral size from the AFM image.     

A novel pseudomorphic (GaAs1−xSbx-InyGa1−yAs)/GaAs bilayer-quantum-well structure lattice-matched to GaAs for long-wavelength optoelectronics

Two types of quantum well (QW) structures grown lattice matched on (100) GaAs have been studied. The first type of structure consists of pseudomorphic GaAs_xSb_1-x/GaAs (x≤0.3) SQWs which show emission wavelengths longer than those reported for pseudomorphic In_yGa_1−yAs/GaAs QWs. However, the attractive emission wavelength of 1.3 μm has not been achieved. To reach this goal, a novel type of bilayer QW (BQW) has been grown consisting of a stack of two adjacent pseudomorphic layers of GaAs_xSb_1−x and In Ga_1-y As embedded between GaAs confinement layers. In this BQW, a type-II heterojunction is formed between GaAs_xSb_1−x and In_yGa_1−yAs, resulting in a spatially indirect radiative recombination of electrons and holes at emission wavelengths longer than those achieved in the GaAs_xSb_1−x/GaAs and Ii_yGa_1−yAs/GaAs SQWs. The longest 300K emission wavelength observed so far was 1.332 μm.     

Room temperature λ=1.3 µm photoluminescence from InGaAs quantum dots on (001) Si substrate

GaAs/In_xGa_1−x As quantum dot heterostructures exhibiting high-intensity λ=1.3 μm photoluminescence at room temperature have been grown on (001) Si substrate with a Si_1−x Ge_x buffer layer. The growth was done successively on two MBE machines with sample transfer via the atmosphere. The results obtained by the study of the structure growth process by means of high-energy electron diffraction are presented. __________ Translated from Fizika i Tekhnika Poluprovodnikov, Vol. 36, No. 5, 2002, pp. 565–568. Original Russian Text Copyright ? 2002 by Burbaev, Kazakov, Kurbatov, Rzaev, Tsvetkov, Tsekhosh.     

Effects of trimethylindium on the purity of In0.5Al0.5P and In0.5Al0.5as epilayers grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

In_0.5Al_0.5P lattice-matched to GaAs and In_0.5A1_0.5As lattice-matched to InP epilayers were grown by atmospheric pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (AP-MOCVD). The effect of trimethylindium on the purity of the as-grown layers was systematically studied using secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), and capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements. The SIMS results showed that oxygen is the main impurity in all layers and the oxygen concentration in InAlP was approximately one to four orders of magnitude higher than the oxygen concentration found in InALAs when the same indium source was used, indicating that more oxygen was introduced by the phosphine source than by the arsine source. Two electron traps in the InAlP epilayers and four electron traps in the InALAs epilayers were observed in this study. When a high-purity indium source was used, the best InAlP epilayer showed only one deep electron trap at 0.50 eV while the best InALAs epilayer showed no deep levels measured by DLTS. In addition, we also found that a high concentration of oxygen is related to the high resistivity in both material systems; this suggests that semi-insulating (SI) materials can be achieved by oxygen doping and high quality conducting materials can only be obtained through the reduction of oxygen. The oxygen concentration measured by SIMS in the best InALAs epilayer was as low as 3 × 10¹⁷ cm⁻³.     

Optical study of InP quantum dots

Results of photoluminescence (PL) studies of self-organized nanoscale InP islands (quantum dots, QDs) in the In_0.49Ga_0.51P matrix, grown on a GaAs substrate by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE), are presented. Dependences of the PL efficiency on temperature in the range 77–300 K and on excitation level at pumping power densities of 0.01–5 kW/cm² have been obtained. The PL spectra are a superposition of emission peaks from QDs and the wetting layer. Their intensity ratio depends on the pumping power and temperature, and the emission wavelength varies in the range 0.65–0.73 μm. At 77 K and low excitation level, InP QDs exhibit high temperature stability of the emission wavelength and high quantum efficiency. __________ Translated from Fizika i Tekhnika Poluprovodnikov, Vol. 35, No. 2, 2001, pp. 242–244. Original Russian Text Copyright ? 2001 by Vinokurov, Kapitonov, Nikolaev, Sokolova, Tarasov.     

Deep level investigation on n-In0.35Ga0.65As/GaAs structures

We have investigated the deep electronic levels in n-In_0.35Ga_0.65As epitaxial layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on graded In_xGa_1−xAs buffer/GaAs structures. In_xGa_1−xAs buffer layers with linear, parabolic and power composition grading law, respectively have been considered. The dependence of the deep levels distribution on the buffer grading law as well as on growth parameters such as the growth temperature and use of As₂ or As₄ beams is reported.     

Ohmic contacts ton-type In0.5Ga0.5P

The contact properties of alloyed Ni/Au-Ge/Mo/Au metallization to npoststagger+In_0.5Ga_0.5P epilayers grown by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs substrates are reported. A minimum specific contact resistance of 10⁻⁵ Ωcm² was obtained forn = 2 × 10¹⁹ cm⁻³ material after alloying at 360° C for 20 sec. Above this temperature outdiffusion of lattice elements and reactions of the metallization with the In_0.5Ga_0.5P lead to severe morphological changes and degraded contact properties. From the temperature dependence of the contact resistance, thermionic emission was identified as the predominant current transport mechanism in these contacts.     

Tuning the energy spectrum of InAs/GaAs quantum dots by varying the thickness and composition of the thin double GaAs/InGaAs cladding layer

It is shown that the ground state transition energy in quantum dots in heterostructures grown by atmospheric-pressure MOCVD can be tuned in the range covering both transparence windows of the optical fiber at wavelengths of 1.3 and 1.55 μm by varying the thickness and composition of the thin GaAs/In_xGa_1−x As double cladding layer. These structures also exhibit a red shift of the ground state transition energy of the In_xGa_1−x As quantum well (QW) as a result of the formation of a hybrid QW In_xGa_1−x As/InAs (wetting layer) between the quantum dots (QDs). The Schottky diodes based on these structures are characterized by an increased reverse current, which is attributed to thermally activated tunneling of electrons from the metal contact to QD levels. __________ Translated from Fizika i Tekhnika Poluprovodnikov, Vol. 38, No. 4, 2004, pp. 448–454. Original Russian Text Copyright ? 2004 by Karpovich, Zvonkov, Levichev, Baidus, Tikhov, Filatov, Gorshkov, Ermakov.     

Bimodality in Arrays of In<Subscript>0.4</Subscript>Ga<Subscript>0.6</Subscript>As Hybrid Quantum-Confined Heterostructures Grown on GaAs Substrates

Hybrid quantum-confined heterostructures grown by metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy (MOVPE) via the deposition of In_0.4Ga_0.6As layers with various nominal thicknesses onto vicinal GaAs substrates are studied by photoluminescence spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The photoluminescence spectra of these structures show the superposition of two spectral lines, which is indicative of the bimodal distribution of the size and/or shape of light-emitting objects in an array. The dominant spectral line is attributed to the luminescence of hybrid “quantum well–dot” nanostructures in the form of a dense array of relatively small quantum dots (QDs) with weak electron and hole localization. The second, lower intensity line is attributed to luminescence from a less dense array of comparatively larger QDs. Analysis of the behavior of the spectral line intensities at various temperatures showed that the density of larger QDs grows with increasing thickness of the InGaAs layer.     

Improved area density and luminescence properties of InP quantum dots grown on In<Subscript>0.5</Subscript>Al<Subscript>0.5</Subscript>P by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

We report on the growth of InP self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) on In_0.5Al_0.5P matrices by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on (001) GaAs substrates. The effects of the growth temperature and V/III-precursor flow ratio on the areal density and the cathodoluminescence (CL) properties of the grown QDs were systematically studied. We found that, when the growth temperature is ≤630°C, coherent QDs as well as large dislocated InP islands can be observed on the matrix surface. However, by using a two-step growth method, i.e., by growing the InAlP matrix layer at higher temperatures and growing InP QDs at lower temperatures, the formation of large dislocated islands can be effectively suppressed. Moreover, the areal density of the InP QDs is increased as the QD growth temperature is reduced. Furthermore, we found that the V/III ratio used in growing QDs and in growing the InAlP matrix layers has a quite different effect. In growing QDs, decreasing the V/III ratio results in an increase in the CL intensity and a decrease in CL line width; while in growing the InAlP matrix layers, increasing the V/III ratio results in an increase in the CL intensity of the InP QDs.     

Comparative study on the influence of Al component at GaAlAs layer for GaAs/AlGaAs photocathode

We designed two transmission-mode GaAs/AlGaAs photocathodes with different AlxGa_1-xAs layers, one has an Al_xGa_1-xAs layer with the Al component ranging from 0.9 to 0, and the other has a fixed Al component 0.7. Using the first-principle method, we calculated the electronic structure and absorption spectrum of Al_xGa_1-xAs at x=0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1, calculation results suggest that with the increase of the Al component, the band gap of Al_xGa_1-xAs increases. Then we activated the two samples, and obtained the spectral response curves and quantum efficiency curves; it is found that sample 1 has a better shortwave response and higher quantum efficiency at short wavelengths. Combined with the band structure diagram of the transmission-mode GaAs/AlGaAs photocathode and the fitted performance parameters, we analyze the phenomenon. It is found that the transmission-mode GaAs/AlGaAs photocathode with variable Al component and various doping structure can form a two-stage built-in electric field, which improves the probability of shortwave response photoelectrons escaping to the vacuum. In conclusion, such a structure reduces the influence of back-interface recombination, improves the shortwave response of the transmission-mode photocathode.     

Electrical behavior of modulation-and delta-doped Al x Ga1 − x As/In y Ga1 − y As/GaAs PHEMT structures

Modulation-and delta-doped Al_xGa_{1 ? x} As/In_yGa_{1 ? y} As/GaAs PHEMT structures are grown by MBE. The effect is examined of changes in the technique and level of doping on the electrical behavior of the structures. Photoluminescence spectroscopy combined with Hall-effect measurements is shown to be an effective strategy for the purpose. The experimental results are interpreted on the basis of calculated conductionband diagrams.     

Liquid phase epitaxial growth and characterization of high purity lattice matched GaxIn1-xAs ON <111>B InP

High purity Ga_xIn_1-x As has been grown lattice matched on <111>B InP by liquid phase epitaxy. Silicon, the residual impurity, is purged from the melt by long time baking in a hydrogen atmosphere with slight ambient water vapor concentration. Epitaxial layers with a net electron concentration as low as 3.5 × 10¹⁴ cm^-3 and a liquid nitrogen mobility of 70,000 cm²/Vsec have been grown. The room temperature mobility is shown to be significantly higher than GaAs over a wide range of net electron concentrations useful for device applications, with the highest value of μ₃₀₀ = 13,800 cm²/Vsec on a sample with n = 1.9 × I0¹⁵ cm_-3