Low-temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) and excitation spectroscopy(PLE) are used to characterize and compare high current density resonant tunnelling diodes (RTD) structures. RTD structural characteristics are detected using X-Ray diffraction (XRD) while the electrical characteristics are detected by PL and PLE. Results are used to link the structure electrical properties to the RTD device IV characteristic. We started focusing the attention on the first quasi bound state (e1) energy, fundamental for the RTD operation. PL is used to detect the TypeI and Type II QW radiative transitions. The e1 state is obtained by the difference between the Type I (e1–hh1) and type II (conduction band–hh1) transitions. PLE is consequently used to detect the e2-hh2 transition from which we characterize the energy of the e2 state and its position with respect to the e1 state. Experimental data are confirmed by the RTDs device IV characteristics. We highlight the combination PL and PLE as a powerful, fast, and non-destructive characterization method to link wafer properties and device performance in RTD structures.
High-resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD), and low-temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy (LT-PL) are used to investigate the structural properties and inhomogeneities of high current density InGaAs/AlAs/InP resonant tunnelling diode (RTD) wafer structures. The non-destructive assessment of these structures is challenging, with structural variables: well and barriers thickness and the well indium molar fraction, in addition to electronic variables such as the band-offsets being functions of strain, growth sequence, etc.. Experimental PL data are compared with simulations allowing the deconvolution of the PL spectra, that includes Type I and Type II transitions broadened by interface fluctuations on length scales smaller and much larger than the exciton. This method provides details of the non-uniformity of the epitaxial material nondestructively.
Resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs) are next-generation candidates for core THz generation technologies, with proven quasi-optical tunable emission capability, with centre frequencies of 0.1 - 1.98 THz at cca. 1mW, when coupled into a suitable monolithically integrated antenna. For this purpose, the strained InGaAs/AlAs/InP material system is approaching technological maturity, with its offering of high electron mobility, suitable conduction band offsets, and very low resistance contacts. However, the epitaxially thin layers used for RTDs, realise devices with current densities in excess of 10 mAμm-2 and electric fields approaching that of the breakdown of the material. As a high current density is a traditional indicator of performance for these oscillators, it is now increasingly important to grow crystalline layers with near-atomic perfection. In previous work, we showed how the inclusion of a nominally identical, un-doped electrically neutral copy of the RTD double barrier - quantum well (QW) system, leads to the observance of a type-II QW emission in addition to the type-I emission from the active region QW. This could be used to establish the quasi-bound elastic energy, whose level is directly correlated to the peak voltage of the N-shape I-V characteristic. Here we extend this approach with the addition of high-resolution X-ray diffractometry and low-temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy. Through a step-by-step process of curve fitting, comparing to simulation and results, we can comment on the quality and thickness of the ternary InGaAs alloy interfaces surrounding the AlAs barriers. These findings are confirmed with scanning transmission electron microscopy
As continuous wave (CW) terahertz (THz) sources, the differential-frequency-mixing (DFM) has an advantage for the frequency tunability by changing the energy separation of the two lasers. In particular, considering the inhomogeneous width in the quantum confinement systems, use of the exciton lines enables wide frequency tuning. The THz sources with the narrow bandwidth and wide frequency tunability will be applied to the high resolution THz spectroscopy. Recently, we realized the CW-THz wave generation by DFM under the exciton excitation conditions in a GaAs/AlAs multiple quantum well (MQW), which shows the wide frequency tuning range over 18 THz. Therefore, in this work, we report the polarization characteristics of a continuous THz electromagnetic wave generated by DFM due to excitation of two exciton states in the GaAs/AlAs multiple quantum well. As a sample, we used an undoped GaAs/AlAs MQW embedded in a p-i-n structure on a (001) n+-GaAs substrate. The thickness of GaAs and AlAs layer is 7.5 nm. The measurements of the THz wave were carried out at 296 K. As the laser sources, a semiconductor laser and a CW-mode Ti:sapphire laser to change the excitation energy were used. The two beams were focused on the sample surface. Comparing the polarization of the laser beams with that of the THz wave, the conversion process from the laser lights to the THz wave via the exciton states, such as the heavy hole and light hole excitons split by quantum confined effects, will be demonstrated.
This paper describes a technique to control the polarization property in quantum dot (QD)-semiconductor optical
amplifiers (SOAs) using vertical stacking of self-assembled InAs QDs. QD-SOAs have been expected to realize high
saturation power, multi-channel processing, and high-speed response. However, in conventional QDs, the significant
polarization dependence in the optical gain caused by the flattened QD shape has been a serious problem. One of the
well-known approaches to realize the polarization-independent gain relies on columnar QDs, in which InAs QDs layers
are closely stacked with very thin (several monolayers) intermediate layers. The isotropic shape of columnar QDs
realizes a polarization-independent gain. On the other hand, in this paper, we propose a different approach, where QDs
are vertically stacked with moderately thick intermediate layers. Therefore each QDs layer is well separated
geometrically and high precision control of overall QD shape is expected. Vertically aligned InAs QDs are known to
create the electronically coupled states, where we expect the enhancement of the optical transition probability along the
vertical direction. We have achieved such vertical stacking of QDs up to 9 layers by optimizing the amount of GaAs and
InAs deposition. The 9-stacked QDs have shown transverse-magnetic-mode dominant emission in edge
photoluminescence in the 1.3 μm telecommunication wavelength region. Our results have suggested that the
electronically coupled QDs can be a powerful tool to realize the polarization-independent QD-SOAs
An all-optical switching device has been proposed by using self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) within a
vertical cavity structure for ultrafast optical communications. This device has several desirable properties, such as the
ultra-low power consumption, the micrometre size, and the polarization insensitive operation. Due to the threedimensional
confined carrier state and the broad size distribution of self-assembled InAs/GaAs QDs, it is crucial to
enhance the interaction between QDs and the cavity with appropriately designed 1D periodic structure. Significant
QD/cavity nonlinearity is theoretically observed by increasing the GaAs/AlAs pair number of the bottom mirror. By this
consideration, we have fabricated vertical-reflection type QD switches with 12 periods of GaAs/Al0.8Ga0.2As for the top mirror and 25 periods for the bottom mirror to give an asymmetric vertical cavity. Optical switching via the QD excited
state exhibits a fast switching process with a time constant down to 23 ps, confirming that the fast intersubband relaxation of carriers inside QDs is an effective means to speed up the switching process. A technique by changing the light incident angle realizes wavelength tunability over 30 nm for the QD/cavity switch.
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