GaAs structures with InAs and As quantum dots produced in a single molecular beam epitaxy process

Epitaxial GaAs layers containing InAs semiconductor quantum dots and As metal quantum dots are grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The InAs quantum dots are formed by the Stranskii-Krastanow mechanism, whereas the As quantum dots are self-assembled in the GaAs layer grown at low temperature with a large As excess. The microstructure of the samples is studied by transmission electron microscopy. It is established that the As metal quantum dots formed in the immediate vicinity of the InAs semiconductor quantum dots are larger in size than the As quantum dots formed far from the InAs quantum dots. This is apparently due to the effect of strain fields of the InAs quantum dots upon the self-assembling of As quantum dots. Another phenomenon apparently associated with local strains around the InAs quantum dots is the formation of V-like defects (stacking faults) during the overgrowth of the InAs quantum dots with the GaAs layer by low-temperature molecular beam epitaxy. Such defects have a profound effect on the self-assembling of As quantum dots. Specifically, on high-temperature annealing needed for the formation of large-sized As quantum dots by Ostwald ripening, the V-like defects bring about the dissolution of the As quantum dots in the vicinity of the defects. In this case, excess arsenic most probably diffuses towards the open surface of the sample via the channels of accelerated diffusion in the planes of stacking faults.     

Effect of local structural defects on the precipitation of as in the vicinity of InAs quantum dots in a GaAs matrix

Electron-microscopy studies of GaAs structures grown by the method of molecular-beam epitaxy and containing arrays of semiconductor InAs quantum dots and metallic As quantum dots are performed. An array of InAs quantum dots is formed using the Stranski-Krastanow mechanism and consists of five layers of vertically conjugated quantum dots divided by a 5-nm-thick GaAs spacer layer. The array of As quantum dots is formed in an As-enriched GaAs layer grown at a low temperature above an array of InAs quantum dots using postgrowth annealing at temperatures of 400–600°C for 15 min. It is found that, during the course of structure growth near the InAs quantum dots, misfit defects are formed; these defects are represented by 60° or edge dislocations located in the heterointerface plane of the semiconductor quantum dots and penetrating to the surface through a layer of “low-temperature” GaAs. The presence of such structural defects leads to the formation of As quantum dots in the vicinity of the middle of the InAs conjugated quantum dots beyond the layer of “low-temperature” GaAs.     

GaAs（331）A衬底上分子束外延生长自组织InAs纳米结构形貌演化机制

采用分子束外延方法在GaAs(331)A高指数衬底上制备自对齐InAs量子线(QWR)或者三维(3D)岛状结构。InAs量子线(QWR)选择性生长在GaAs层的台阶边缘。通过原子力显微镜(AFM)仔细研究了InAs纳米微结构的表面形貌,发现不同的生长条件如衬底温度、生长速率和InAs层厚度等,对InAs表面形貌有很大的影响。低温更容易导致线状纳米微结构的形成,而高温更利于3D岛状结构形成。表面形貌的转变归结于表面能同应变能之间的竞争。     

Electron microscopy of GaAs-based structures with InAs and As quantum dots separated by an AlAs barrier

Electron microscopy studies of GaAs-based structures grown by molecular beam epitaxy and containing arrays of semiconductor InAs quantum dots and metal As quantum dots are performed. The array of InAs quantum dots is formed by the Stranski-Krastanov mechanism and consists of vertically coupled pairs of quantum dots separated by a GaAs spacer 10 nm thick. To separate the arrays of semiconductor and metal quantum dots and to prevent diffusion-induced mixing, the array of InAs quantum dots is overgrown with an AlAs barrier layer 5 or 10 nm thick, after which a GaAs layer is grown at a comparatively low temperature (180°C). The array of As quantum dots is formed in an As-enriched layer of the low-temperature GaAs by means of post-growth annealing at 400–760°C for 15 min. It is established that the AlAs barrier layer has a surface profile corresponding to that of a subbarrier layer with InAs quantum dots. The presence of such a profile causes the formation of V-shaped structural defects upon subsequent overgrowth with the GaAs layer. Besides, it was obtained that AlAs layer is thinned over the InAs quantum dots tops. It is shown that the AlAs barrier layer in the regions between the InAs quantum dots effectively prevents the starting diffusion of excess As at annealing temperatures up to 600°C. However, the concentration of mechanical stresses and the reduced thickness of the AlAs barrier layer near the tops of the InAs quantum dots lead to local barrier breakthroughs and the diffusion of As quantum dots into the region of coupled pairs of InAs quantum dots at higher annealing temperatures.     

Molecular beam epitaxial growth of gaas on gadolinium-gallium garnet

Single-crystal GaAs has been grown by molecular beam epitaxy on Gd₃Ga₅0₁₂ (GGG) using an InAs buffer layer and an InAs/GaAs multilayer structure between the GGG and the GaAs. The x-ray diffraction spectrum shows that both the InAs and GaAs epitaxial layers are oriented in the (111) direction when grown on a (100) GGG substrate. The unintentionally doped InAs layers aren-type and have donor concentrations in the range of 7 × 10¹⁶ to 2 × 10¹⁸ cm^-3 which vary inversely with growth temperature. The corresponding carrier mobilities vary from 3.5 × 10³ to 1 × 10³ cm²/V s. The GaAs was also found to be conducting. The 77-K photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of the GaAs grown on the GGG differs from that of homoepitaxial GaAs in that the heteroepitaxial GaAs PL intensity is approximately 50 times lower, its linewidth is five times broader, and its peak energy is blue shifted by 10 meV.     

Optical and structural properties of InAs quantum dot arrays grown in an InxGa1−x As matrix on a GaAs substrate

Structural and optical properties of InAs quantum dots (QDs) deposited on the surface of a thick InGaAs metamorphic layer grown on a GaAs substrate have been studied. The density and lateral size of QDs are shown to increase in comparison with the case of QDs grown directly on a GaAs substrate. The rise of In content in the InGaAs layer results in the red shift of the photoluminescence (PL) line, so that with 30 at % indium in the metamorphic layer the PL peak lies at 1.55 μm. The PL excitation spectroscopy of the electronic spectrum of QDs has shown that the energy separation between the sublevels of carriers in QDs decreases as the In content in the InGaAs matrix increases. __________ Translated from Fizika i Tekhnika Poluprovodnikov, Vol. 38, No. 7, 2004, pp. 867–871. Original Russian Text Copyright ? 2004 by Kryzhanovskaya, Gladyschev, Blokhin, Musikhin, Zhukov, Maksimov, Zakharov, Tsatsul’nikov, Ledentsov, Werner, Guffart, Bimberg.     

In0．2Ga0．8As-GaAs复合应力缓冲层上的1.3μm InAs／GaAs自组织量子点

用光荧光谱和原子力显微镜测试技术系统研究了在2 nm In0.2Ga0.8As和x ML GaAs的复合应力缓冲层上生长的InAs/GaAs自组织量子点的发光特性和表面形貌.采用In0.2Ga0.8As与薄层GaAs复合的应力缓冲层,由于减少了晶格失配度致使量子点密度从约1.7×109 cm-2显著增加到约3.8×109cm-2.同时,复合层也有利于提高量子点中In的组份,使量子点的高宽比增加,促进量子点发光峰红移.对于x=10 ML的样品室温下基态发光峰达到1350 nm.     

Self-organized InAs/GaAs quantum dots multilayers with growth interruption emitting at 1.3 μm

We have grown single, 10 and 20 InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) multilayers by molecular beam epitaxy in Stranski-Krastanov growth mode with and without growth interruption. Multilayer structures of InAs QDs have been studied by photoluminescence (PL) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques. Between 1 and 10 layers of QDs, 10 K PL shows a shift energy, and a PL linewidth reduction. Moreover, AFM image of the 10 layers sample shows that the InAs QDs size remains constant and almost uniform when the growth is without interruption. These effects are attributed to electronic coupling between QDs in the the columns. However, we show the possibility of extending the spectral range of luminescence due to InAs QDs up to 1.3 μm. Realisation of such a wavelength emission is related to formation of lateral associations or coupling of QDs (LAQDs or LCQDs) during InAs deposition when growth interruption (20 s) is used after each InAs QDs layer deposition. The growth interruption applied after the deposition of the InAs layer allows the formation of well-developed InAs dots (large dot size).     

自组织生长单层InAs量子点结构中浸润层与量子点发光的时间分辨谱研究

在GaAs(100)的衬底上，采用MBE自组织方法生长了单层层厚分别为2和2．5ML的InAs层。通过原子力显微镜(AFM)观察，证实已在InAs层中形成量子点。采用光致发光谱及时间分辨谱对InAs量子点及浸润层开展研究和对比，分析了单层InAs量子点和浸润层中的载流子迁移过程，较好地解释了实验结果。     

InAs/GaAs系列量子点研究

为了获得波长长、均匀性好和发光效率高的量子点,采用分子束外延(MBE)技术和S-K应变自组装模式,在GaAs(100)衬底上研究生长了三种InAs量子点。采用MBE配备的RHEED确定了工艺参数:As压维持在1.33×10-5Pa;InAs量子点和In0.2Ga0.8As的生长温度为500℃;565℃生长50nmGaAs覆盖层。生长了垂直耦合量子点(InAs1.8ML/GaAs5nm/InAs1.8ML)、阱内量子点(In0.2Ga0.8As5nm/InAs2.4ML/In0.2Ga0.8As5nm)和柱状岛量子点(InAs分别生长1.9、1.7、1.5ML,停顿20s后,生长间隔层GaAs2nm)。测得对应的室温光致发光(PL)谱峰值波长分别为1.038、1.201、1.087μm,半峰宽为119.6、128.0、72.2nm、相对发光强度为0.034、0.153、0.29。根据PL谱的峰位、半峰宽和相对发光强与量子点波长、均匀性和发光效率的对应关系,可知量子点波长有不同程度的增加、均匀性越来越好、发光效率显著增强。     

The sandwich InGaAs/GaAs quantum dot structure for IR photoelectric detectors

A new possibility for growing InAs/GaAs quantum dot heterostructures for infrared photoelectric detectors by metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy is discussed. The specific features of the technological process are the prolonged time of growth of quantum dots and the alternation of the low-and high-temperature modes of overgrowing the quantum dots with GaAs barrier layers. During overgrowth, large-sized quantum dots are partially dissolved, and the secondary InGaAs quantum well is formed of the material of the dissolved large islands. In this case, a sandwich structure is formed. In this structure, quantum dots are arranged between two thin layers with an increased content of indium, namely, between the wetting InAs layer and the secondary InGaAs layer. The height of the quantum dots depends on the thickness of the GaAs layer grown at a comparatively low temperature. The structures exhibit intraband photoconductivity at a wavelength around 4.5 μm at temperatures up to 200 K. At 90 K, the photosensitivity is 0.5 A/W, and the detectivity is 3 × 10⁹ cm Hz^1/2W^?1.     

MBE自组织方法生长InGaAs/AlGaAs量子线FET材料

利用分子束外延 (MBE)技术在高指数面 Ga As衬底上自组织生长了应变 In Ga As/Ga As量子线材料。原子力显微镜 (AFM)观测结果表明量子线的密度高达 4× 1 0 5/cm。低温偏振光致发光谱 (PPL)研究发现其发光峰半高宽 (FWHM)最小为 9.2 me V,最大偏振度可达 0 .2 2。以 Al Ga As为垫垒 ,In Ga As/Ga As量子线为沟道 ,成功制备了量子线场效应管 (QWR-FET)结构材料 ,并试制了器件 ,获得了较好的器件结果     

The effect of misorientation of the GaAs substrate on the properties of InAs quantum dots grown by low-temperature molecular beam epitaxy

The structural and optical properties of arrays of InAs quantum dots grown on GaAs substrates at relatively low temperatures (250 and 350°C) and with various degrees of misorientation of the surface are studied. It is shown that low-temperature growth is accompanied by the formation of quantum dot clusters along the dislocation loops on the singular surface and along the steps caused by the surface vicinality on the misoriented surface. The formation of quantum dot clusters leads to the appearance of a new long-wavelength band in the exciton photoluminescence (PL) spectra. It is found that the degrees of polarization of the PL spectral band for clusters of various shapes are different.     

Optical spectroscopy of self-organized nanoscale hetero-structures involving high-index surfaces

Similar effects are responsible for self-organization of periodically corrugated surface structures and ordered dot arrays on crystal surfaces. Strain relaxation on facet edges may result in the appearance of periodically corrugated surfaces for lattice-matched growth. Strain relaxation on facet edges and island interaction via the strained substrate act as driving forces for the formation of ordered arrays of uniform, strained lattice-mismatched islands on a crystal surface. A pseudoperiodic square lattice is manifested for the InAs-GaAs(100) system. Less ordered dots are formed on the GaAs(100) surface with a 4 monolayer GaSb deposition. New experimental methods are applied for the characterization of faceted nanoscale structures. For GaAs-AlAs multilayer structures grown on (311)A substrates, interface corrugation results in optical anisotropy of the same sign as expected from the low symmetry growth direction, making the main origin of the anisotropy unclear. Our quantitative optical reflectance and reflectance anisotropy studies show that the interface corrugation plays an important role for thin (less than 4 nm) GaAs layers. Mesa arrays from samples with InAs quantum dots grown on (100) surface are fabricated. The photoluminescence intensity is found to depend only weakly on the mesa size (1000 nm to 250 nm). The estimated electron-hole pair capture time into the InAs dot at room temperature is less than 1 ps. We also found a weak dependence of the threshold current density on the deep mesa stripe width (down to 3 μm) in the case of room temperature operated quantum dot injection lasers.     

Influence of bismuth doping of InAs quantum-dot layer on the morphology and photoelectronic properties of Gas/InAs heterostructures grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

GaAs/InAs quantum dot (QD) heterostructures prepared by metalloorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) are investigated. It is established that the introduction of isovalent bismuth doping during the growth of InAs QD layer results in the suppression of the nanocluster coalescence and favors the formation of more uniform QDs. Bismuth itself is virtually not incorporated into the dots, its role being mainly in limiting the migration mobility of atoms at the surface of the growing layer. A method for investigating the morphology of buried layers of InAs QDs in GaAs matrix by atomic-force microscopy is developed; it relies on the removal of the cap layer by selective chemical etching. The photoluminescence (PL) and photoelectric sensitivity spectra of the fabricated heterostructures and their relation to the morphology of the QD layer are studied. In doped structures, PL and selective photosensitivity owing to the QDs are observed at a wavelength of 1.41 µm with the linewidth of 43 meV at room temperature. Some of the morphological features and photoelectronic properties of the MOCVD-grown heterostructures are related to the formation of a transitional layer at the GaAs/InAs QD interface due to the diffusion-induced mixing of the components.     

LP-MOCVD grown (lnAs)m(GaAs)m short period superlattices on InP

(InAs)_m(GaAs)_m (1 ≤ m ≤ 12) short period superlattices (SPSs) have been grown on semi-insulated InP substrates with a 200 nm InP cap layer using low pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). According to double crystal x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy results, the critical layer thickness of (InAs)_m(GaAs)_m SPS was observed to be ～30Å (m = 5). For the SPS below the critical layer thickness, mirror-like surface morphology was found without defects, and strong intensity Fourier transformed photoluminescence (FT-PL) spectra were also obtained at room temperature. The SPS with m = 4 showed a drastic improvement in photoluminescence intensity of order of two compared to an InGaAs ternary layer. However, the SPS with a large value of m (m ≥ 6), rough surface was observed with defects, with broad and weak FT-PL spectra. The surface morphology of SPS was greatly affected by the substrate orientation. The SPS with m = 5 was grown on two degree tilted substrate from (100) direction and showed poor surface morphology as compared to the one grown on (100) exact substrate Moreover, the SPS grown on a (111)B substrate showed a rough triangular pattern with Nomarski optical microscopy. In-situ thermal annealed SPS with m = 4 showed a 18 meV increase in PL peak energy compared to the as-grown sample due to phase separation resulting from thermal interdiffusion.     

Research on the photoluminescence of spectral broadening by rapid thermal annealing on InAs/GaAs quantum dots

Photoluminescence (PL) test was conducted to investigate the effect of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on the optical performance of self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) at the temperatures of 16 and 300 K. It was found that after RTA treatment, the PL spectrum of the QDs sample had a large blue-shift and significantly broadened at 300 K. Compared with the as-grown InAs QDs sample, the PL spectral width has increased by 44.68 meV in the InAs QDs sample RTA-treated at 800 °C. The excitation power-dependent PL measurements showed that the broadening of the PL peaks of the RTA-treated InAs QDs should be related to the emission of the ground state (GS) of different-sized InAs QDs, the InAs wetting layer (WL) and the In_0.15Ga_0.85As strain reduction layer (SRL) in the epitaxial InAs/GaAs layers.     

Wavelength controlled InAs/InP quantum dots for telecom laser applications

This article reviews the recent progress in the growth and device applications of InAs/InP quantum dots (QDs) for telecom applications. Wavelength tuning of the metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy grown single layer and stacked InAs QDs embedded in InGaAsP/InP (1 0 0) over the 1.55-μm region at room temperature (RT) is achieved using ultra-thin GaAs interlayers underneath the QDs. The GaAs interlayers, together with reduced growth temperature and V/III ratio, and extended growth interruption suppress As/P exchange to reduce the QD height in a controlled way. Device quality of the QDs is demonstrated by temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) measurements, revealing zero-dimensional carrier confinement and defect-free InAs QDs, and is highlighted by continuous-wave ground-state lasing at RT of narrow ridge-waveguide QD lasers, exhibiting a broad gain spectrum. Unpolarized PL from the cleaved side, important for realization of polarization insensitive semiconductor optical amplifiers, is obtained from closely stacked QDs due to vertical electronic coupling.     

Electron microscopy of GaAs Structures with InAs and as quantum dots

An electron-microscopy study of GaAs structures, grown by molecular-beam epitaxy, containing two coupled layers of InAs semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) overgrown with a thin buffer GaAs layer and a layer of low-temperature-grown gallium arsenide has been performed. In subsequent annealing, an array of As nanoinclusions (metallic QDs) was formed in the low-temperature-grown GaAs layer. The variation in the microstructure of the samples during temperature and annealing conditions was examined. It was found that, at comparatively low annealing temperatures (400–500°C), the formation of the As metallic QDs array weakly depends on whether InAs semiconductor QDs are present in the preceding layers or not. In this case, the As metallic QDs have a characteristic size of about 2–3 nm upon annealing at 400°C and 4–5 nm upon annealing at 500°C for 15 min. Annealing at 600°C for 15 min in the growth setup leads to a coarsening of the As metallic QDs to 8–9 nm and to the formation of groups of such QDs in the area of the low-temperature-grown GaAs which is directly adjacent to the buffer layer separating the InAs semiconductor QDs. A more prolonged annealing at an elevated temperature (760°C) in an atmosphere of hydrogen causes a further increase in the As metallic QDs’ size to 20–25 nm and their spatial displacement into the region between the coupled InAs semiconductor QDs.     

快速率生长MBE InAs/GaAs(001)量子点

用快速率(1.0ML/s)生长MBE InAs/GaAs(001)量子点。原子力显微镜观察结果表明,在量子点体系形成的较早阶段,量子点密度N(θ)随InAs沉积量θ的变化符合自然指数形式N(θ)∝ek(θ-θc),这与以前在慢速生长(≤0.1ML/s)条件下出现的标度规律N(θ)∝(θ-θc)α明显不同。另外,在N(θ)随θ增加的过程中,快速率生长量子点的高度分布没有经历量子点平均高度随沉积量θ逐渐增加的过程。这些实验观察说明,以原子在生长表面作扩散运动为基础的生长动力学理论至少是不全面的,不适用于解释InAs量子点的形成。这些观察和讨论说明,即使在1.0ML/s的快速率生长条件下,量子点密度也可以通过InAs沉积量有效地控制在1.0×108cm-2以下,实现低密度InAs量子点体系的制备。