Interface effect on the optical properties of InP/GaAs quantum dots

Author(s)

Tiago Illipronti Girardi

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin
• Defense date: 2012-08-27

Examining board members

Fernando Iikawa; Yara Galvão Gobato; Odilon Divino Damasceno Couto Junior

• Advisor: Fernando Iikawa

Abstract

We studied the effect of different interface conditions on the optical properties of InP/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots grown by chemical beam epitaxy in the Stranskii-Krastanov mode. InP/GaAs quantum dots is expected to present type II band alignment, and only electrons are confined, whereas the holes are localized in the GaAs layers around the quantum dot, attracted by the electron. However, due to the atomic intermixing effect in the interface the potential profile can be strongly changed, affecting the optical properties of the quantum dots. We studied samples with the following conditions at the interfaces between the InP layer and GaAs layers: the inclusion, or the lack of, a InGaP layer at one of or both interfaces. InGaP generates a barrier for both types of carriers in a junction with GaAs and InP, and avoid the diffusion of As from the GaAs layers to the InP one. Using time-resolved photo-luminescence, we observed a change of the optical emission decay times associated to the quantum dots as the interface condition is changed. We observed a short decay lifetime in samples without InGaP layers and with the inclusion in the top interface only, whereas we observed a long decay time when we included InGaP layers in both interfaces. The short decay lifetime is incompatible with the type II band alignment, where the electron and the hole should be spatially separated. Using these and other previous results, we concluded that the short decay lifetime is due to the atomic intermixing in both interfaces regions, forming alloys that localize the carriers near each other. The long lifetime observed for sample containing InGaP in both interfaces is attributed to the large electron-hole spatial separation. In this case intermixing effects at the interfaces do not form a potential well to localize the carries near each other (AU)