InAs/GaAs multiple quantum dot structures grown by LP-MOVPE

Structures with self-organised InAs quantum dots in a GaAs matrix were grown by the low pressure metal–organic vapour phase epitaxy (LP-MOVPE) technique. Photoluminescence and atomic force microscopy were used as the main characterisation methods for the growth optimisation. The properties of multiple-stacked quantum dot structures are influenced by the thickness of the GaAs separation layers (spacers) between quantum dot-containing InAs layers, by the InAs layer thickness, by arsine partial pressure during growth, and by group III precursor flow interruption time.     

Study of GaAs spacer layers in InAs/GaAs vertically aligned quantum dot structures

We investigated vertically aligned InAs/GaAs QD structures, grown by atomic layer molecular beam epitaxy, with a number N of layers and with spacer thicknesses d. QD alignment and structure quality were checked by transmission electron microscopy. The dependencies of carrier capture, decay dynamics and existence of quenching channels on the design parameters N and d were studied by time resolved photoluminescence (PL), PL excitation (PLE) and PL temperature-dependent measurements. Our results show that the carrier capture and the radiative efficiency of the QDs are negatively affected by increasing the number of QD layers and by reducing the spacer thicknesses; this effect is likely to be related to the increase of defect concentrations in GaAs spacers, due to relaxation of an increasingly large strain.     

Influences of silicon doping in quantum dot layers on optical characteristics of InAs/GaAs quantum dot infrared photodetector

We have investigated the effects of silicon doping concentration within thirty-period self-assembled quantum dot (QD) layers on quantum dot infrared photodetectors (QDIPs). The lens-shaped quantum dots with the dot density of 1 × 10¹¹ cm^− 2 were observed by atomic force microscope (AFM). From the high ratio of photoluminescence (PL) peak intensities from dot layer to that from wetting layer, we have concluded that high dot density caused the short diffusion length for carriers to be easily captured by QDs. Moreover, the Si-doped samples exhibited the multi-state transitions within the quantum dots, which were different to the single level transition of undoped sample. Besides, the dominant PL peaks of Si-doped samples were red-shifted by about 25 meV compared to that of the undoped sample. It should result from the dopant-induced lowest transition state and therefore, the energy difference should be equal to the binding energy of Si in InAs QDs.     

Temperature dependent optical properties of stacked InGaAs/GaAs quantum rings

In this paper we describe the results of temperature dependent photoluminescence intensity and decay time measurements of In(Ga)As/GaAs quantum rings where the depth of barrier is varied from sample to sample. The activation energy found for the reduction of the exciton decay time as a function of the temperature is approximately half the value of the thermionic escape energy of excitons. The temperature dependant behaviour is ascribed to the carriers lost via the excited state to the WL.

The time resolved PL study indicates that thermal escape mechanisms is not so affected by reducing the spacer thickness, but it's influenced essentially by the excited state recombination.     

Optical properties of self-assembled InAs quantum dots grown on GaAs(211)A substrate

We have investigated the photoluminescence (PL) and growth properties of self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QD) grown on (211)A-oriented GaAs substrate in a low coverage region. At the onset of the QD formation in the Stranski–Krastanov mode, structures of QD on (211)A substrate were quite different from those on (100) substrate. The uniformity of size distribution was better and the density was higher than that grown on (100) substrate. We found a PL peak at 1.32 eV when the InAs coverage was 1.57 ML. Another PL peak gradually appeared at 1.37–1.42 eV with increasing InAs coverage. The peaks at 1.32 and 1.37–1.42 eV were attributed to the emission from a defect-related QD and a typical QD, respectively. When the InAs coverage exceeded 1.89 ML, the QD density decreased with increasing InAs coverage, due to the coalescence of QD. The samples studied here showed PL spectra having a larger intensity and narrower full width at half-maximum compared with that grown on (100) substrate.     

Optical properties of water-soluble l-cysteine-capped alloyed CdSeS quantum dot passivated with ZnSeTe and ZnSeTe/ZnS shells

Alloyed quantum dots (QDs) passivated with shell materials have valuable optical characteristics suitable for a wide array of applications. In this work, alloyed ternary CdSeS QDs passivated with ZnSeTe and ZnSeTe/ZnS shells have been synthesized via a hot-injection method and a ligand exchange reaction employing l-cysteine as a thiol ligand has been used to obtain these water-soluble nanocrystals for the first time. The photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield (QY) of alloyed l-cysteine-capped CdSeS was 71.2% but decreased significantly to 5.2% upon passivation with a ZnSeTe shell. The red shift in PL emission of the CdSeS/ZnSeTe QDs was attributed to be strain-induced whilst a lattice-induced process likely created defect states in the core/shell interface hence contributing to the decline in the PL QY. Nonetheless, the fluorescence stability of CdSeS/ZnSeTe QDs in aqueous solution was unperturbed. Further passivation with a ZnS shell (CdSeS/ZnSeTe/ZnS) improved the PL QY to a value of 58.7% and thus indicates that the defect state in the QDs core/shell/shell structure was reduced. PL lifetime exciton measurements indicated that the rates of decay of the QDs influenced their photophysical properties.     

A numerical study of the imperfection effect on ultrananocrystalline diamond properties under different loading paths and temperatures

To better understand the imperfection influence on the ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) properties under various loading conditions, a numerical study is performed to investigate the effect of vacancies on the mechanical responses of pure and nitrogen (N)-doped UNCD films under tensile and shear loading paths at elevated temperatures. A simple procedure is developed by combining kinetic Monte Carlo with molecular dynamics (MD) methods to form a polycrystalline UNCD block. Different numbers of vacancies are introduced by randomly removing carbon atoms from the resulting UNCD blocks. The responses of the simulated pure and N-doped UNCD blocks with different numbers of vacancies are then investigated by applying displacement–controlled loading under different temperatures in the MD simulations. The simulation results presented in this paper provide a better understanding of the imperfection effect on the mechanical responses of pure and N-doped UNCD films as compared with the grain boundary effect.     

Structural characterization of GaSb-capped InAs/GaAs quantum dots with a GaAs intermediate layer

GaSb incorporation to InAs/GaAs quantum dots is considered for improving the opto-electronic properties of the systems. In order to optimize these properties, the introduction of an intermediate GaAs layer is considered a good approach. In this work, we study the effect of the introduction of a GaAs intermediate layer between InAs quantum dots and a GaSb capping layer on structural and crystalline quality of these heterostructures. As the thickness of the GaAs intermediate layer increases, a reduction of defect density has been observed as well as changes of quantum dots sizes. This approach suggests a promising method to improve the incorporation of Sb to InAs heterostructures.     

Thermal-induced intermixing effects on the optical properties of long wavelength low density InAs/GaAs quantum dots

The effect of post-growth rapid thermal annealing on the photoluminescence properties of long wavelength low density InAs/GaAs (001) quantum dots (QDs) with well defined electronic shells has been investigated. For an annealing temperature of 650 °C for 30 s, the emission wavelength and the intersublevel spacing energies remain unchanged while the integrated PL intensity increases. For higher annealing temperature, blue shift of the emission energy together with a decrease in the intersublevel spacing energies are shown to occur due to the thermal activated In–Ga interdiffusion. While, this behaviour is commonly explained as a consequence of the enrichment in Ga of the QDs, the appearance of an additional exited state for annealing temperatures higher than 650 °C suggests a variation of the intermixed QDs's volume/diameter ratio toward QDs's enlargement.     

Study on the optical properties of Zn1−xMgxS (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.55) quantum dots prepared by precipitation method

Zn_1−xMg_xS (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.55) quantum dots (QDs) were successfully synthesized by precipitation method. The crystal structures, microstructures, and optical properties of the Zn_1−xMg_xS QDs were investigated using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and ultraviolet-visible and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The Zn_1−xMg_xS QDs were found to have a cubic crystal structure and an average crystallite size of 6.40-7.96 nm. It has been shown that an increase in doping Mg²⁺ concentration in Zn_1−xMg_xS QDs led to a gradual widening of the band gap and a weakening in the PL intensity of the Zn_1−xMg_xS QDs.     

Optical properties of GaInNAs/GaAs quantum well structures

The radiative recombination in GaInNAs/GaAs quantum well structures was investigated by low temperature optical spectroscopy. In the temperature region, below 100 K, we found that the observed transition energies strongly depend on the excitation intensity and the temperature, which is indicative of carrier localization. The degree of carrier localization depends on the In-concentration but is not significantly influenced by the N-concentration when the N-concentration exceeds 1.6%. Photoluminescence studies indicate that the degree of the carrier localization decreases with increasing In-concentration at a constant N-concentration. In addition, the experimental results show that carrier localization is strongly correlated to deep level emission. Through post-growth thermal treatment at 650 °C both carrier localization and deep level emission can be eliminated.     

Performance study of InAs/GaAs quantum dot covered by graded InxGa1 − xAs layer

InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) with graded In_xGa_1 − xAs strained-reducing layer (SRL) are grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition, the effects of Indium (In) composition and thickness in In_xGa_1 − xAs on QD morphological characteristics and optical properties are investigated. Compared with In_xGa_1 − xAs SRL with fixed In content, gradient In_xGa_1−xAs SRL can further improve the growth quality of InAs QDs, enhance luminescence intensity and extend emission spectrum toward longer wavelength.     

Electrooptical properties of GaNAs/GaAs multiple quantum well structures

The electrooptical properties of the GaNAs/GaAs multiple quantum well structures have been studied using the photoreflectance spectroscopy from 20 K to room temperature. Above the band gap energy of GaAs, Franz–Keldysh oscillations were observed. The period of the Franz–Keldysh oscillations decreased slightly with decreasing temperature, and indicated that the corresponding space charge distribution varied slowly with temperature. The modulated quantum well transition features were observed below the band gap energy of GaAs. A matrix transfer algorithm was used to calculate the quantum well subband energies numerically. The band gap energy and the electron effective mass of the GaNAs/GaAs system were adjusted to obtain the subband energies to best fit the observed quantum well transition energies.     

A study of formation and photoluminescence properties of ZnO quantum dot doped zinc-alumino-silicate glass ceramic

Transparent Al₂O₃-SiO₂-ZnO-R₂O glass ceramics were fabricated by melting method. The effects of the different kind of alkali ions on the formation of the transparent glass ceramic were studied. X-ray diffraction and high resolution transmission electron microscope were measured to study the microstructure of the samples. The results showed that, transparent glass ceramic including ZnO quantum dots was obtained after heat treatment from 700 °C to 800 °C for the sample containing K₂O. While glasses containing Li₂O and Na₂O were opal after heat treatment. Photoluminescence properties of the K₂O contained samples were studied. It was found that the photoluminescence peak shifted to longer wavelength when the heat treatment temperature and time increased, which can be ascribed to the increasing of ZnO quantum dots size.     

Electrical characterization of InAs/GaAs quantum dot structures

The electrical properties of InAs quantum dots (QD) in InAs/GaAs structures have been investigated by space charge spectroscopy techniques, current–voltage and capacitance–voltage measurements. Au/GaAs/InAs(QD)/GaAs Schottky barriers as well as ohmic/GaAs/InAs(QD)/GaAs/ohmic structures have been prepared in order to analyze the apparent free carrier concentration profiles across the QD plane, the electronic levels around the QD and the electrical properties of the GaAs/InAs(QD)/GaAs heterojunction. Accumulation and/or depletion of free carriers at the QD plane have been observed by Capacitance–Voltage (C–V) measurements depending on the structure parameters and growth procedures. Similarly, quantum dot levels which exhibit distributions in energy have been detected by Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) and Admittance Spectroscopy (AS) measurements only on particular structures. Finally, the rectification properties of the InAs/GaAs heterojunction have been investigated and the influence of the related capacitance on the measured capacitance has been evidenced.     

自组织InAs/GaAs与InGaAs/GaAs量子点生长及退火情况的比较

本文采用MBE进行InAs/GaAs与InGaAs/GaAs量子点的生长,利用RHEED进行实时监测,并利用RHEED强度振荡测量生长速率。对生长的InAs/GaAs和InGaAs/GaAs两种量子点生长过程与退火情况进行对比,观察到当RHEED衍射图像由条纹状变为网格斑点时,InAs所需要的时间远小于InGaAs;高温退火下RHEED衍射图像恢复到条纹状所需要的时间InAs比InGaAs要长。     

Post-growth annealing of type-II GaSb/GaAs quantum dots grown with different V/III ratios

We report the influence of V/III beam-equivalent-pressure ratios and post-growth annealing on the photoluminescence of GaSb quantum dots grown on GaAs(1 0 0) by molecular beam epitaxy. Increasing the V/III beam-equivalent-pressure ratio from 3 to 5 and then to 7 results in decreased photoluminescence intensity and redshifts the photoluminescence wavelength. The post-growth annealing blueshifts the quantum dot photoluminescence emission and decreases the full-width-at-half-maximum of the photoluminescence peak when annealing temperature is increased above 800 °C. The blueshift behavior is found to be independent on the V/III ratios indicating a similar atomic interdiffusion mechanism for all investigated samples regardless of the quantum dot properties. The photoluminescence intensities of the three samples experience an increase after moderate annealing. Whereas the intensity of the sample with the highest V/III ratio further increases, the intensity of the sample with lower V/III ratios decreases again upon higher annealing steps above 900 °C. Furthermore, temperature- and power dependent photoluminescence measurements are performed on as-grown and 870 °C annealed samples with V/III ratios of 3 and 7 in order to study the reduced quantum dot confinement in more detail.     

Activation energy and carrier dynamics of CdTe/ZnTe quantum dots on GaAs and Si substrates

We investigate the activation energy and carrier dynamics of CdTe/ZnTe quantum dots (QDs) grown on GaAs and Si substrates. The activation energy of the electrons confined in QDs on the Si substrate, as obtained from the temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) spectra, is lower than that of electrons confined in QDs on the GaAs substrate. Time-resolved PL measurements used to study the carrier dynamics show shorter exciton lifetimes for QDs on the Si substrate. This behavior is attributed to the fact that defects and dislocations in the QDs on the Si substrate provide nonradiative channels.     

Theoretical study on controllability of quantum state energy in an InGaAs/GaAs quantum dot buried in InGaAs

We theoretically studied the relationship between quantum energy states and structural parameters of an InGaAs/GaAs quantum dot (QD) buried in strained InGaAs, emitting at 1.1 to 1.4 em. The crystal distortion of the buried QD structure in three dimensions was computed based on the three-dimensional finite element method. Under the computed strain fields, the Schr?dinger equation was solved to obtain wavefunctions and eigenenergies. By calculating the dependence on structural parameters, we investigated the controllable range of the ground state energy and the energy separation between the ground state and the first excited state. We found that the energy separation exhibited a maximum value as a function of QD composition, enabling us to identify the composition of the QD structure. The effects of the burying layer composition and QD diameter were also investigated to expand the controllable range of the state energy. We also showed that the wavefunction symmetry was improved by burying the QD in the InGaAs layer. Our results will be useful in developing advanced devices for optical telecommunications and quantum information technology.     

共掺杂n型CVD金刚石薄膜的结构和性能

利用微波等离子体化学气相沉积(MPCVD)技术制备硫掺杂及硼/硫共掺杂n型金刚石薄膜,探讨n型CVD金刚石薄膜的特性和共掺杂机理.研究结果显示:随着单一硫(S)掺杂含量的增加,金刚石薄膜导电激活能降低,薄膜生长速率减小,薄膜中非金刚石结构相增多;硼/硫(B-S)共掺杂有利于增加硫在金刚石中的固溶度,提高硫在金刚石晶体中的掺杂率,降低金刚石薄膜的导电激活能(在0.26～0.33eV);与单一S掺杂相比较,B-S共掺杂金刚石薄膜生长速率低,薄膜质量和晶格完整性好;霍耳效应测试表明硫掺杂和硼/硫共掺杂金刚石薄膜具有n型导电特征,载流子浓度在1016-1018/cm3之间,载流子迁移率在7～80cm2V-1s-1之间.采用B-S共掺杂技术有利于提高CVD金刚石薄膜的晶格完整性,使得B-S共掺杂金刚石薄膜具有更高的载流子迁移率.