Stranski-Krastanov (SK) Quantum dots (QDs) based lasers and detectors are now used in many fields because of the plentiful advantages they offer, some of which are normal incident absorption and phonon bottleneck. In order to optimize the properties of the devices, growth parameters have to be tuned properly. The effects of growth temperature (GT) and growth rate (GR) variations on the QD devices have been studied here by comparing simulations and experiments. In this study, InAs QDs are grown on GaAs substrates with four different temperatures, from 480°C to 510°C, and with five different GRs, from 0.15 ML/s to 0.025ML/s. To observe the grown heterostructures' structural and optical properties photoluminescence (PL) and PL excitation (PLE) have been performed on the samples. The size, shape, and composition of the QDs ultimately decide the energy levels in the heterostructure. Hence, it determines the optical and electrical properties of the devices. Here we simulated 3-D strain profiles of the QD and compared the results with PL and PLE. The trends in simulated biaxial strain and heavy hole (HH) - light hole (LH) band splitting, observed in the PLE, match pretty well. We observed that the change in GT drastically affects the composition of the dots and the wetting layer, whereas a change in GR only changes the lateral size of the QDs, and do not affect the strain or composition. These studies can be beneficial for p-i-p short-wave infrared (SWIR) detectors since their spectral response is tuned by the HH-LH band splitting.
The effect of thin In0.15Ga0.85As strain-reducing layer on the structural and optical characteristics of multilayer InAs/In(Ga)As Stranski-Krastanov (SK) quantum dots (QDs) electronically coupled to Sub monolayer (SML) QDs has been investigated. The capping of In0.15Ga0.85As material over the InAs SK QDs reduces the out-diffusion of Indium atoms from the InAs dot resulting in an increased QD size. Moreover, the In0.15Ga0.85As material has a lattice constant between that of InAs and GaAs that aids in undulated transition of strain from the dot to the capping material and the GaAs spacer helping the growth of multilayer QD structure with high crystalline quality. Five different heterostructures are used in this study by varying the number of SK QD layers i.e., single layer (x1), bi layer (x2), penta layer (x5), hepta layer (x7) and deca layer (x10) which are grown on the same six stack SML QDs. A growth strategy has been employed while growing these multilayer SK QDs such that similar size QDs are grown even for deca layer structure with superior dot size homogeneity. The emission full width at half maxima computed at a temperature of 19 K came out to be ~50 nm for the penta layer structure indicating formation of uniform size QDs. The SK and SML QD sizes are chosen such that the ground eigen state of SML QDs coincide with excited states of SK QDs allowing the possibility of carriers to tunnel from the SML to SK QDs. The use of In0.15Ga0.85As capping led to a red shift in the PL peak position as compared to the structure without In0.15Ga0.85As capping. High-Resolution X-Ray Diffraction (HRXRD) measurements are carried out on these structures to understand the structural characteristics of multilayer SK on SML structures. The HRXRD results show that the hepta layer and the deca layer structures have the minimum strain with best crystalline quality. Considering both the optical and the structural characteristics, it has been concluded that the growth strategy helps in growing similar size QDs for the multilayer structures which can be used in various optoelectronic device applications.
This paper presents a novel heterostructure with multilayer Stranski-Krastanov (SK) quantum dots (QDs) heterogeneously coupled to Submonolayer (SML) QDs that shows better performance in terms of both optical and material characteristics. The 2.5 ML InAs/GaAs multilayer SK QDs are grown on the 6 stack 0.3 ML InAs SML QDs using a Molecular Beam Epitaxy system. Multilayer includes single, bi, tri, penta, hepta and ten-layer SK QDs and a different growth mechanism is adapted to maintain the dot size similar in each layer irrespective of the residual strain from the bottom layers. Photoluminescence (PL) and high resolution X-ray Diffraction (HRXRD) experiments are done in order to analyze the optical and material characteristics of these grown heterostructures. PL results show that the ground state peak wavelength of SK QD for all the heterostructures is at ~1035 nm, which confirms a uniform dot size for all heterostructures. However, the sample with ten SK QD layers coupled to SML QD has the highest luminescence intensity, lowest full width half maxima (FWHM: ~50 meV), and highest activation energy (~397 meV). A peak at ~947 nm in the PL spectra confirms the presence of SML QDs and the tunneling of carriers from ground state of SML QD to excited state of SK QD is observed. HRXRD results show that the compressive strain experienced by the QDs is reducing with increase in the number of SK QD layers, which depicts ten SK QD layers coupled to SML QD heterostructure as the best even in terms of material characteristics.
Over the last decade InAs Stranski–Krastanov (S-K) quantum dots (QDs) grown on GaAs substrate have been widely explored for optoelectronic devices. In the recent past, the uncapped surface QDs are getting much attention for sensing application with adequate sensitivity to lower molar concentration of contaminants. Though non-uniform size distribution is an inherent property of the self-assembled S-K growth process, sensitivity of the surface QDs is significantly affected by this. Here, we have grown the surface QDs upon buried QD layer with a low barrier layer thickness to reduce the non-uniformity. In general, the 2D to 3D transition of the InAs QDs occurs only above 1.7 monolayer (ML). However, the 3D transition may be possible even at a lower monolayer coverage with the residual strain induced from the underlying QDs. In this study, particularly we have grown InAs surface QD layer at 1.6 ML coverage above the 2.7 ML buried QD layer with 8 nm thick GaAs spacer. The impact of vertically induced strain of the underneath InAs QD layer on the growth of surface dots has been investigated. The morphology of surface QDs is observed through Atomic force microscopy (AFM), which indicates the formation of uniform QDs with lower defects. The low temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy provides the evidence of the wave function overlap between the buried and surface QDs.
This study presents a novel approach to enhance the photoluminescence and minimize strain in selfassembled bilayer InAs quantum dot (QDs). To obtain this approach, multi-level digital alloy capping layer (DACL) is introduced in the growth of the ternary InGaAs capping layer having different material composition, instead of conventional thick layer. A single thick 4 nm InGaAs capping on the InAs QD layers (Sample A1) is divided into four equal parts each having 1 nm thicknesses. The composition of indium (In) in strain reducing layer (SRL) in growth direction is varied from 45% to 15% for both first layer and second layer QDs (Sample D1). The experimental low temperature ground state emission wavelength for the sample A1 and sample D1 was 1096 and 1167 nm respectively. The biaxial and hydrostatic strain in growth direction was theoretically computed and compared for both analog and digital samples. The computed hydrostatic and biaxial strain in sample D1 is improved by 7.19% and 6.79% respectively, when compared to that of analog sample A1. The improved hydrostatic strain provides the better carrier confinement. The improved biaxial strain offers more band splitting between heavy-hole and light-hole band in valence band. This decreases the ground state band gap and thus offers a red shift in photoluminescence (PL). The experimental PL for both samples were also validated by simulating both heterostructures. The sample with DACL growth mode provided better crystalline quality, enhanced quantum yield and lesser defects.
In this study, we have discussed the effect of strain distribution and optical properties on In0.14Ga0.86As matrix thickness variation (tmat) in self-assembled InAs quantum dot (QD) heterostructure using temperature and power-dependent photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The calculated ground-state transition energies are 1.12, 1.14 and 1.09 eV for tmat of 2, 4 and 6 ML (monolayer) In0.14Ga0.86As matrix thickness respectively. We also discern that the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) broadens gradually as temperatures increases due to electron-phonon scattering. The calculated activation energy (Ea) values are 231, 302 and 98 meV for increasing tmat. The partial strain relief due to varying In0.14Ga0.86As layer thickness occurs due to QD size tunability by preventing Indium (In) segregation effect, that sets the possibility to understand about InAs inter-band and intersubband transitions of PL emission. This has been validated with HRXRD results where strain decreases linearly with increasing tmat. Here In0.14Ga0.86As layer acts as a strain-reducing layer (SRL) in QD heterostructure as well. Thus helps in reducing the hydrostatic strain (∊hyd) of InAs QDs, while the lower InGaAs layer increases the QD density, leading to a remarkable rise in PL intensity due to state filling of carriers. The effect of strain distribution for varying tmat in the heterostructure was also studied using nextnano++ simulations. The relative percentage change in hydrostatic (biaxial) strain was calculated to be 5.5% (8%) respectively. Thus, the results so obtained can help in tuning matrix thickness on the PL emission properties of QDs and therefore in the realization of several optoelectronic devices.
Properties of self-assembled III-V quantum dot (QD) heterostructures for optoelectronic devices mainly rely on growth parameters and also on substrate used. The research community mainly preferred GaAs substrate instead of Si substrate for optoelectronics. However, the low cost and abundance of Si impels the researchers and industrialists to use Si for the commercial application using SixGe1-x graded layer and Migration Enhanced Epitaxy (MEE) layer. Here we have studied the optical and structural study of Stranski–Krastanov (S-K) InAs quantum dots grown on Ge substrate with 6° offcut toward the (110) plane (Sample A) without MEE layer, which may be easy to integrate on Si. Starting from the thick GaAs buffer layer, AlAs/GaAs super-lattice buffer layers followed by three consecutive layers of 2.7 ML S-K InAs QDs with 50 nm GaAs capping were grown. Another sample (B) with the same heterostructure was grown on GaAs substrate for comparison. Low temperature photoluminescence (PL) for the sample (A) is blue-shifted as compared to sample B, which might be due to smaller dots formation. The bi-modal dot size distribution of the sample A and sample B was confirmed from the power dependent PL. In the low temperature PL spectrum, full width half maxima (FWHM) of the sample A is very close to that of the sample B. Rocking curve obtained from high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) for the sample A, shows Ge substrate peak and GaAs peak from the GaAs layer grown on the Ge substrate. The strain calculated from the HRXRD rocking curve for the sample A and sample B is -4.12x10-3 and -2.0x10-3 respectively. Strain value indicates crystalline quality of sample A is good and comparable to the same in sample B, grown on the GaAs substrate. The optical properties for the sample A can be enhanced further via monolayer coverage of the dots, capping material, capping thickness and ex-situ annealing techniques.
This study examines the photoluminescence (PL) properties and strain distribution in InAs/InGaAs heterostructure for varying number of sub-monolayer (SML) quantum dot stacks (nSML). High resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD) probes the strain effects, whereas PL spectroscopy evaluated the optical response. The ground-state transition energies calculated from PL experiments were found to be 1.19, 1.13, 1.11, 1.12 eV for 4, 6, 8 and 10 stacks respectively. It was observed that, with the increasing nSML, the PL peak emission energy has an initial blue shift and later a red shift, due to build-up of strain energy propagating from the bottom layers of InAs quantum dots (QDs). The activation energies (Ea) calculated from temperature-dependent PL (TDPL) measurements are 414, 279, 260 and 231 meV for 4, 6, 8 and 10 stacks respectively. The Raman characterization results explores on the strain relaxation effects by observing the shift and broadening in TO and LO phonon peaks of GaAs bulk material. The strain energy distribution along the growth direction (z-direction) was studied using nextnano++ simulations. The relative change in hydrostatic and biaxial strain at a particular z - position was calculated to be 3.2% and 5.5% respectively These strain components are of prime importance in understanding the position of conduction and valence band energy levels and finally the band gap energy. Thus, with these articulated results, we conclude that sample with 6 SML stacks is the optimum choice for fabricating optoelectronic devices operating in long range infrared telecommunication regime.
Self-assembled InAs quantum dot (QD) based heterostructures have been emerged as a potential candidate for optoelectronic device application over last decade due to the three dimensional carrier confinement. Here, we qualitatively demonstrate the effect of growth rate of both QD and capping layer on the photoluminescence (PL) result of MBE grown InAs/GaAs QD heterostructures. The investigated samples are having 2.7 monolayer (ML) near-surface InAs QDs. The InAs QDs in samples A and B are grown with growth rates of 0.2 and 0.1 ML/sec respectively, whereas growth rate of the GaAs capping layer is kept constant (0.62 μm/hr) in both samples. In sample C, QD and capping layer are grown at 0.2 ML/sec and 1.13 μm/hr, respectively. Sample B exhibited lower full-width half maximum of ground peak (36 nm) as compared to sample A (40 nm). This indicates better homogeneity in dot size distribution in sample B, which has a lower growth rate of QDs. Moreover, sample C with higher growth rate of capping layer showed red-shift in PL as compared to sample A. It can be inferred that the growth rate of capping layer affects the composition of QDs by suppressing In diffusion from QDs towards the capping layer. However, sample C showed decrement in PL intensity and it could be attributed to the dissolution of dots due to higher growth rate of capping layer. There is trade-off in optimization of growth rate variabilities of both QDs and capping layer.
Multilayer strain-coupled P-i-P quantum dot infrared photodetectors (QDIPs) with different configurations are studied. Photoluminescence (PL) and photoluminescence excitation (PLE) measurements are carried out to investigate the improvement in the optical performance of these proposed devices. The samples are grown with a different growth strategy to minimize the dot size dispersion compared to the conventional QDIPs. Also, the effect of In0.15Ga0.85As strain reducing layer (SRL) in the proposed samples are analyzed. We report a monomodal PL spectrum and reduction of 28 meV in full-width half maximum (FWHM) of the ground state (GS) peak for the proposed structure in comparison with the conventional one. The monomodal behavior of the structures is confirmed by mapping deconvoluted PL peaks and PLE results. The GS peak of the conventional QDIP is observed at 1.2 eV, whereas the same for the proposed sample is at 1.18 eV. Further redshift in the peak position is achieved (1.14 eV) through the introduction of SRL, which also has a lesser FWHM than the conventional sample. A difference of 69 meV and 73 meV between GS and the first excited state (ES1) peak is observed in the PLE spectra of the conventional and proposed structure, respectively. However, two resolved excited state peaks (ES1 and ES2) are visible in the case of SRL-incorporated structure, which are 69.6 meV and 138 meV away from the GS peak. The proposed QD heterostructures with applied growth strategy and P-i-P configurations are expected to perform better at higher temperatures along with improved absorption efficiency.
Self-assembled III-V compound semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) on silicon (Si) substrate is much explored topic for optoelectronic devices. Here, we have investigated the optical and structural behavior of InAs QDs grown on (001)- oriented Si substrate. The heterostructure has been grown without Si-Ge buffer/graded layer and without Migration Enhanced Epitaxy layer which might reduce the anti-phase domain and dislocation propagation towards the active region. The heterostructure grown on Si (sample A) consists of a thick GaAs buffer layer which was followed by AlAs/GaAs super-lattice buffer layer and three consecutive layers of 2.7 ML InAs QDs with 50 nm GaAs capping. A heterostructure with similar active layers was grown on GaAs substrate (sample B). Samples were characterized using photoluminescence (PL) and high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) measurements. Sample A exhibited blue shifted PL peak as compared to sample B, which might be due to the formation of smaller dots. Moreover, from the power-dependent PL analysis, a multimodal and bimodal dot size distribution was observed in sample A and B respectively. HRXRD measurements showed the poor crystalline quality in sample A as compared to sample B. However, PL of sample A exhibited a higher intensity in comparison to sample B. In addition, sample A provided higher activation energy of 290 meV, whereas it was 198 meV in case of sample B. This indicates better confinement of charge carriers, which might improve the device performance. The optoelectronic performances could be enhanced by further optimizing this growth strategy through optimizing the dot layer periodicity, capping material, and capping thickness.
Submonolayer (SML) quantum dots (QDs) have higher confinement than conventional Stranski- Krastanov (SK) QDs. Moreover, hole-transport based QD infrared photodetectors (QDIPs) are anticipated to perform better at a higher temperature than its counterparts (electron-transport based devices). Effects of different stacking configuration and monolayer (ML) coverage of InAs SML QDs in In0.15Ga0.85As matrix are studied here for the development of high temperature operable, hole-transport based QDIPs. We increased the number of dot layers in the matrix as 4, 6 and 8. The monolayer coverage is varied from 0.3 ML to 0.5 ML. Radiative recombination is captured by photoluminescence (PL) and PL excitation (PLE) to observe the energy states of the grown heterostructures. The PL results in case of 0.3ML QDs show a gradual red shift in the ground state (GS) emission when we stack more dot layers in the matrix (1.334 eV, 1.269 eV, and 1.244 eV). Increase in dot size is suspected as the reason behind this change. A decrease in the difference between GS and first excited state (ES1) confirms the enlargement of dots for these samples. However, the PL (multimodal) peak position with maximum intensity changes more interestingly (1.195 eV, 1.154 eV and 1.188 eV) for 0.5 ML QDs with the increase in stacking. This variation is expected to be associated with the relaxation of dots via out diffusion of In atoms from the dot.
Strain in the heterostructure plays a vital role in the characteristics of Quantum Dot (QD) based optoelectronic devices. Optimization of the number of dot layers to be strain-coupled is analyzed here to attain QD infrared photodetectors with higher efficiency. Heterostructures are grown in a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) system with two (Bi), three (Tri), five (Penta) and seven (Hepta) strain-coupled QD layers, to observe the variation in the optical properties. The effect of thin In0.15Ga0.85As Strain Reducing Layer (SRL) over these coupled structures is also analyzed. Photoluminescence (PL) and Photoluminescence Excitation (PLE) spectroscopy are carried out on the grown structures. Low-temperature Power Dependent PL and PLE revealed the discrete energy states in the dots. The ground state (GS) peaks are found at 1.16 eV, 1.18 eV, 1.195 eV, and 1.194 eV for Bi-, Tri-, Penta-, and Hepta-layer structures. The corresponding peaks redshifted to 1.12 eV, 1.14 eV, 1.154 eV, and 1.152 eV, with the incorporation of 2 nm SRL. It is observed from the PLE results that the excited state peaks of Bi-to-Heptalayer structures are 68 meV, 70 meV, 74 meV, and 72 meV away from the GS peak. However, the differences obtained for the samples with In0.15Ga0.85As SRL are 59 meV, 66 meV, 68 meV, and 70 meV. It is seen that the GS PL peaks of Penta-layer samples with both kinds of structures have the highest intensity. The study shows the importance of strain-coupling and provides an optimum QD heterostructure for better device performance.
The influence of variation in InAs monolayer coverage on the formation of self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) was investigated by Photoluminescence (PL), Photoluminescence excitation (PLE), and High-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) measurements. Redshift in the PL spectra was observed with increase in monolayer (ML) coverage of InAs QD from 2 ML to 3.4 ML, as a consequence of an increase in dot size. However, the PL peak intensity initially enhanced from 2 ML to 2.7 ML followed by a drop in 3.4 ML, which promulgate the incoherent dot formation along with the facilitation of defects. The full width at half maxima (FWHM) of the lowtemperature ground state emission spectra was found to be around 48 meV for 2 ML and 3.4 ML InAs QD, but for 2.7 ML it was around 40 meV as a result of lower dispersion in dot size. PLE spectra and a prolonged double-peak feature in the power dependent PL spectra revealed that the transition of the size distribution of InAs QD from single-modal to bimodal occurred as the InAs QD coverage increased. Besides, HRXRD measurements explained the formation of compressively strained QDs with increased InAs coverage. The activation energy for all samples was calculated from the temperature-dependent photoluminescence spectra and the optimum value (~327 meV) obtained for 2.7 ML sample, which attributes deeper barrier potential. Thus, possessing efficient activation energy, relaxed strain and predominantly enhanced luminescence, InAs QD with 2.7 ML coverage is the optimized structure for various optoelectronic device applications.
The effect of substrate temperature variation on properties of InAs/GaAs Quantum Dots has been studied. Increase in substrate temperature during growth leads to blue-shift in the PL spectrum which becomes fairly evident after a threshold substrate temperature. Beyond the threshold substrate temperature (beyond 500°C), the effects due to Indium desorption cannot be neglected and hence they contribute to poor optical quality of dots as evident from reduced integrated PL intensity on increasing substrate temperature. AFM measurements also corroborate these findings showing reduced dot size and higher dot density after threshold substrate temperature. We suggest an optimum substrate temperature around 480 ″C for growth process.
In spite of numerous advantages offered by Quantum Dot (QD) based imaging systems in infrared photo-detection, the physical realization of such systems has always been a challenging task. In this study, we aim to analyze the effects of growth rate variation on the structural and optical properties of self-assembled InAs/GaAs Stranski-Krastanov (SK) QDs grown on semi-insulating GaAs substrate using MBE (Molecular Beam Epitaxy). Five samples grown at a substrate temperature of 490°C with varying growth rates (0.025ML/s, 0.05ML/s, 0.075ML/s, 0.1ML/s, 0.15ML/s) were investigated using PL spectroscopy, and AFM measurements. PL spectroscopy showed a blue shift in the ground state peak wavelength with an increase in growth rate which was further corroborated by AFM measurements, showing reduced dot-size with an increased growth rate. AFM measurements showed an increase in dot density with an increased growth rate suggesting increased tendency towards nucleation. Integrated PL intensity witnessed an initial increase with an increased growth rate before achieving its maxima for sample grown at 0.075ML/s, rendering the sample grown at 0.075ML/s best in terms of optical activity. These observations provided key insights into the growth kinetics operating during dot-formation through SK growth mode by evaluating the competition between the forces due to surface diffusion and nucleation.
InAs/GaAs Quantum Dots have piqued the interest of researchers owing to the advantages they offer in the fabrication of highly efficient optoelectronic devices. In this study, we aim to examine the consequence varying V-III ratio on optical and structural behavior of self-assembled InAs/GaAs Stranski-Krastanov (SK) Quantum Dots grown on GaAs substrate using Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE). Three samples consisting of three layers of vertically stacked Quantum Dots with three different V-III ratios (48, 60 and 80 respectively) grown at a substrate temperature of 490°C have been thoroughly examined using PL spectroscopy and HR-XRD. The best optical response is seen in the sample with 80 as VIII ratio. A higher As vapor pressure during growth seems to suppress the surface migration of Indium atoms leading to bigger dot size, increased PL intensity and more uniform distribution rendering better optical response. The absence of satellite peaks in HR-XRD measurements of sample with lower V-III ratio indicates significant density of point-defects. HRXRD analysis reveals an increase in perpendicular strain with greater V-III ratio. Reduced FWHM in sample with higher V-III ratio is in accordance with suppressed Indium diffusion and strain propagation across multi-layered nanostructure contributing to greater uniformity in dot-size. PL spectrum of sample with least V-III ratio shows sharp peaks around 900 nm indicating incomplete dot-formation at such low ratios leaving significant part of wetting layer exposed. Our investigation provides interesting insights into kinetics of nanostructure growth which will prove to be helpful in fabrication of optimized nanostructures.
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