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Epitaxial low temperature grown GaAs (LT-GaAs) on silicon (LT-GaAs/Si) has the potential for terahertz (THz) photoconductive antenna applications. However, crystalline, optical and electrical properties of heteroepitaxial grown LT-GaAs/Si can be very different from those grown on semi-insulating GaAs substrates (reference). In this study, we investigate optical properties of an epitaxial grown LT-GaAs/Si sample, compared to a reference grown under the same substrate temperature, and with the same layer thickness. Anti-phase domains and some crystal misorientation are present in the LT-GaAs/Si. From coherent phonon spectroscopy, the intrinsic carrier densities are estimated to be ~$10^{15}$ cm$^{-3}$ for either sample. Strong plasmon damping is also observed. Carrier dynamics, measured by time-resolved THz spectroscopy at high excitation fluence, reveals markedly different responses between samples. Below saturation, both samples exhibit the desired fast response. Under optical fluences $\geq$ 54 $\mu$ J/cm$^2$, the reference LT-GaAs layer shows saturation of electron trapping states leading to non-exponential behavior, but the LT-GaAs/Si maintains a double exponential decay. The difference is attributed to the formation of As-As and Ga-Ga bonds during the heteroepitaxial growth of LT-GaAs/Si, effectively leading to a much lower density of As-related electron traps., Comment: 8 pages, supplementary info separate

Spintronic THz emission from Ni/Pt bilayer grown on MgO is reported based on the novel THz emitter using metallic structures. The Ni metal was deposited first on a MgO substrate and capped with a thin Pt metal via electron beam deposition. The THz emission data was obtained using a standard terahertz time-domain spectroscopy setup using a Ti: sapphire laser excitation source. Initial measurements were done using 800nm excitation with 7 mW and 185 mW pump powers under upward and downward magnetic field orientations. Polarity reversal of the terahertz signal was observed upon changing the orientation of the magnetic field. Maximum amplitude was found at 0.5 THz with bandwidth up to ~6 THz. A saturation fluence of 85.04 mJ/cm2 was calculated from the pump fluence-dependence plot of the THz peak-to-peak signal. The results are consistent with the spintronic THz emission due to the inverse spin-Hall effect and provide insights for future development and optimizations.

Carrier dynamics and photoconductivity in epitaxial-grown low-temperature GaAs on nominal and vicinal Si(1 0 0) substrates ('LT-GaAs/Si') were studied to predict their actual performance as THz photoconductive antenna (PCA) detectors. An optical-pump terahertz-probe technique was used to obtain the transmittance, carrier lifetime and photoconductivity of two LT-GaAs/Si samples, grown using different substrates and different growth protocols. The LT-GaAs grown on Si(1 0 0) substrate with a 4° tilt to 〈1 1 0〉 has better crystallinity, in agreement with other reports; while the LT-GaAs layer grown on nominal Si(1 0 0) substrate, though more structurally defective, has a much faster electron trapping time. Fabricated test PCAs with either dipole or bowtie geometries confirm the characterization results. The photoconductivity and carrier lifetime results manifest in the PCA performance, in responsivity, and in detection bandwidth. The prototypes' sensitivities, bandwidths and dynamic ranges show that with some growth optimization, LT-GaAs/Si can be tailored to create economical, broadband THz detectors.

Two asymmetric double quantum wells of different coupling strengths (barrier widths) were grown via molecular beam epitaxy, both samples allowing tunneling. Photoluminescence was measured at 10 and 300 K to provide evidence of tunneling, barrier dependence, and structural uniformity. Carrier dynamics at room temperature was investigated by optical pump terahertz probe (OPTP) spectroscopy. Carrier population decay rates were obtained and photoconductivity spectra were analyzed using the Drude model. This work demonstrates that carrier, and possibly tunneling dynamics in asymmetric double quantum well structures may be studied at room temperature through OPTP spectroscopy.

We report on the THz emission characteristics of an aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO)–nGaAs heterostructure observed via reflection-geometry THz time-domain spectroscopy. Our results show that upon deposition of AZO on nGaAs, the THz emission is stronger compared to the bare substrate. This increase is attributed to the stronger electric field at the AZO/nGaAs interface compared to that of the bare nGaAs surface, as measured by photoreflectance spectroscopy. The reflectivity of the AZO/nGaAs sample is also reduced by a factor of two compared to that of the bare nGaAs substrate, suggesting an increase in the absorption coefficient.

Hydrothermal-grown bulk ZnO single crystals are investigated before and after gamma-ray irradiation. The irradiation does not alter the optical transparency in the visible region. The gamma rays only induce modified near-band-edge UV emission with blue-shifted peaks and shortened response times. From the initial values before irradiation, the peaks shift by 5 to 6 nm, and the response times shorten by 140 to 440 ps. We attribute these observations to the radiation-induced defects on the bulk crystals. Our results nevertheless lead to the realization of short-wavelength ZnO scintillators that can be utilized in high-energy-radiation environments.

We demonstrate molecular beam epitaxy growth of p-InAs layers on GaAs-buffered GaSb that may be suitable for terahertz applications. GaAs buffer deposition is initiated by applying growth interruption. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction shows that GaAs growth proceeds to a quasi-two-dimensional growth mode. The scheme allows growth of a p-InAs layer 600 nm to 1.0 µm thick. Growth performed without GaAs and growth interruption resulted in decomposition of the p-InAs. When the scheme is used, the ensuing p-InAs first follows quasi-two-dimensional growth before favoring faceted islanding. Under 800-nm-wavelength femtosecond laser excitation, the p-InAs layer generates terahertz signals 70% of that of bulk p-InAs.

The carrier dynamics and recombination characteristics of vertically aligned silicon nanowires are investigated using terahertz emission and photoluminescence spectroscopy, respectively. It is observed that the presence of pores on the walls in two-step-synthesized silicon nanowires greatly affects the carrier dynamics, compared with nanowires synthesized using a one-step process. These pores become efficient carrier recombination sites wherein carriers are collected upon photoexcitation. Additionally, pores effectively diminish the surface electric field thereby inhibiting the terahertz emission. Finally, nanowire-length-dependent terahertz emission is observed only for the one-step-synthesized nanowires whereas the two-step-synthesized nanowire samples exhibited length dependence of their photoluminescence intensity.