The temperature dependence of electrical and optical properties in InAs/GaAs and GaAs/InAs/AlAs self-assembled quantum dots (original) (raw)

Thermostabilization of Electrical Properties of InAs/GaAs Self-Assembled Quantum Dots Embedded in GaAs/AlAs Superlattices

Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, 2001

The electrical characteristics of the self-assembled quantum dots embbeded in GaAs wells of the GaAs/AlAs superlattices were studied by capacitance spectroscopy and were compared with results obtained for the dots embbeded in bulk GaAs. A much stronger electron localization was detected for the quantum dots embedded in the superlattice in comparison with those embedded in bulk GaAs. As a consequence, the electrical characteristics of the structures with quantum dots grown in superlattices were found to be significantly thermo-stabilized. It was shown that these structures present different strengths of the localization of electrons caused by the effective increase of the heights of the barriers when the dots were grown in the superlattices.

Capacitance spectroscopy of InAs self-assembled quantum dots embedded in a GaAs/AlAs superlattice

Journal of Applied Physics, 2000

Capacitance spectroscopy is used to study electronic properties of self-assembled InAs quantum dots. The capacitance-voltage, C(V), measurements in combination with the magneto-capacitance, C(B), results make it possible to investigate the electrostatic profile of a series of single-barrier n-i-n GaAs/AlAs/GaAs heterostructures incorporating a layer of self-assembled InAs quantum dots in the AlAs barrier. We find that the negative charge associated with electron filling of the dots is closely compensated by a positive charge in the AlAs barrier, which we ascribe to ionised defects or impurities, possibly in association with the quantum dots. It is shown the compensation degree considerably depends on the growth conditions.

Thermal peculiarity of AlAs-capped InAs quantum dots in a GaAs matrix

Journal of Applied Physics, 2008

GaAs and AlAs thin capping layers as well as postgrowth rapid thermal annealing ͑RTA͒ were applied to InAs quantum dots ͑QDs͒ grown by molecular beam epitaxy to study the tunability of optical properties of QDs by photoluminescence ͑PL͒ methods. The PL of AlAs-capped QDs shows double-peak structure, as opposed to GaAs-capped QDs, which is due to the formation of two families of QDs in the AlAs-capped sample confirmed by the power dependent PL measurements. The PL peak of the GaAs-capped samples subjected to RTA showed blueshift and narrowing with an increase in RTA temperature. This is the result of thermally enhanced In-Ga intermixing. More complex changes in the PL spectrum of AlAs-capped QDs during the RTA procedure were found and explained by the different In compositions in two branches of QDs. The features observed in the temperature dependences of PL peak energy of GaAs-and AlAs-capped samples were interpreted in terms of thermal escape of carriers from smaller QDs with further redistribution between larger QDs and different InAs content in two families of QDs.

Optical properties of self-assembled InAs quantum dots on high-index GaAs substrates

Superlattices and Microstructures, 1997

In this work we have studied the optical properties of InAs quantum dots (QDs) grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on GaAs (211)A, on (n11)A/B (where n is 1, 5 and 7), and on reference (100) substrates. Investigation of orientation and polarity effects by means of photoluminescence (PL) are also presented. The PL spectra reveal interesting differences in amplitude, integral luminescence, peak position and peak shape. The PL temperature dependence indicates an additional lateral confinement on (100), (n11)B, (211)A and (111)A surfaces. Our results also show an enhancement of the QD onset thermal quenching energy by a factor of ∼ 3 for these orientations. In contrast, the structures grown on (711)A and (511)A surfaces do not exhibit QD formation.

Capacitance-voltage measurements in InAs-GaAs self-assembled quantum dots

physica status solidi (c), 2005

We report on an investigation of capacitance-voltage spectroscopy of electron-hole dynamics in I-nAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) under varied reverse bias, and a study of the influence of holes on this process exerted by the Coulomb interactions. The time constant of the electron transport was estimated by making use of the frequency dependence of the capacitance increase due to the InAs dots. The high values found for the tunnelling times suggest that this process is very sensitive to hole accumulation into the dots.

Electrical characteristics of InAs self-assembled quantum dots embedded in GaAs using admittance spectroscopy

GaAs based structures in which are embedded InAs self-assembled quantum dots are studied using admittance measurements taken over a large frequency spectrum and for several temperatures. The presence of quantum dots is evidenced in the capacitance-voltage characteristics by one, or more, plateau-like structures related to the processes of charging and discharging of the quantum dots. Concurrently, the measured conductance exhibits a peak in a certain bias range that coincides with the plateau-like structure in the capacitance but only for temperatures below 150 K. The conductance dependence on both the temperature and applied bias is attributed to two mechanisms of carrier escape/capture mechanisms from the InAs embedded quantum dots into/out of the hosting GaAs; a thermally activated process for temperatures above 80 K and a perceptibly nonthermal tunneling process for temperatures below 40 K. The conductance data is used to estimate rates and activation energies in association with the electron escape mechanisms from the quantum dots.

Hole emission processes in InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots

Physical Review B, 2002

We present a study of the hole emission processes in InAs/GaAs quantum dots using capacitance and admittance spectroscopies. From the conductance mapping, the hole levels show a quasicontinuous distribution, instead of the clear shell structures that have been observed in electron systems. According to a comparative analysis of the capacitance and admittance spectroscopies, the hole emission process is identified to be via thermally activated tunneling through the wetting layer as an intermediate state. An energy level diagram of the quantum dot is also constructed, which shows the hole in our quantum dots to be more weakly confined. We propose a general thermally activated tunneling model to explain our results and those in other works. The conclusion is that both the localization energy and the electric field are important for the carrier emission processes. This model is further extended to predict which carrier type ͑i.e., electron or hole͒ will be more relevant during the exciton dissociation processes in quantum dots.

Excitation Density and Temperature Dependent Photoluminescence of InGaAs Self-Assembled Quantum Dots

Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, 1999

In this paper, we shall report on the excitation density and temperature dependent photoluminescence produced by discrete energy levels from InGaAs self-assembled quantum dots. While increasing the photoexcitation density, five peaks originating from discrete energy levels of quantum dot and wetting layer are observed. By deconvoluting these spectra using multiple Gaussian fit, the intensity of each state is saturated following its degeneracy. We describe the lateral confinement of quantum dots using a parabolic potential model. The saturated values are in good agreement with the degeneracy of this potential type. From the temperature dependent photoluminescence, we observed the thermally activated quenching of each state. Our results suggest that the wetting layer acts as a barrier to the carrier thermallization processes offering a two dimensional path for inter-dot coupling.