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We developed a new technique to fabricate single nanowire devices with reliable graphene/nanowire contacts using a position-controlled microtransfer and an embedded nanowire structure in a planar junction configuration. A thorough study of electrical properties and fabrication challenges of single p-GaAs nanowire/graphene devices was carried out in two different device configurations: (1) a graphene bottom-contact device where the nanowire-graphene contact junction is formed by transferring a nanowire on top of graphene and (2) a graphene top-contact device where the nanowire-graphene contact junction is formed by transferring graphene on top of an embedded nanowire. For the graphene top-contact devices, graphene-nanowire-metal devices, where graphene is used as one electrode and metal is the other electrode to a nanowire, and graphene-nanowire-graphene devices, where both electrodes to a nanowire are graphene, were investigated and compared with conventional metal/p-GaAs nanowire devices. Conventional metal/p-GaAs nanowire contact devices were further investigated in embedded and nonembedded nanowire device configurations. A significantly improved current in the embedded device configuration is explained with a "parallel resistors model" where the high-resistance parts with the metal-semiconductor Schottky contact and the low-resistance parts with noncontacted facets of the hexagonal nanowires are taken into consideration. Consistently, the nonembedded nanowire structure is found to be depleted much easier than the embedded nanowires from which an estimation for a fully depleted condition has also been established.

The many outstanding properties of graphene have impressed and intrigued scientists for the last few decades. Its transparency to light of all wavelengths combined with a low sheet resistance makes it a promising electrode material for novel optoelectronics. So far, no one has utilized graphene as both the substrate and transparent electrode of a functional optoelectronic device. Here, we demonstrate the use of double-layer graphene as a growth substrate and transparent conductive electrode for an ultraviolet light-emitting diode in a flip-chip configuration, where GaN/AlGaN nanocolumns are grown as the light-emitting structure using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Although the sheet resistance is increased after nanocolumn growth compared with pristine double-layer graphene, our experiments show that the double-layer graphene functions adequately as an electrode. The GaN/AlGaN nanocolumns are found to exhibit a high crystal quality with no observable defects or stacking faults. Room-temperature electroluminescence measurements show a GaN related near bandgap emission peak at 365 nm and no defect-related yellow emission.

Here we demonstrate a more effective use of III–V photoconversion material to achieve an ultrahigh power-per-weight ratio from a solar cell utilizing an axial p-i-n junction GaAs/AlGaAs nanowire (NW) array grown by molecular beam epitaxy on a Si substrate. By analyzing single NW multicontact devices, we first show that an n-GaAs shell is self-formed radially outside the axial p- and i-core of the GaAs NW during n-core growth, which significantly deteriorates the rectification property of the NWs in the axial direction. When employing a selective-area ex situ etching process for the n-GaAs shell, a clear rectification of the axial NW p-i-n junction with a high on/off ratio was revealed. Such a controlled etching process of the self-formed n-GaAs shell was further introduced to fabricate axial p-i-n junction GaAs NW array solar cells. Employing this method, a GaAs NW array solar cell with only ∼1.3% areal coverage of the NWs shows a photoconversion efficiency of ∼7.7% under 1 Sun intensity (AM 1.5G), which is the highest achieved efficiency from any single junction GaAs NW solar cell grown on a Si substrate so far. This corresponds to a power-per-weight ratio of the active III–V photoconversion material as high as 560 W/g, showing great promise for high-efficiency and low-cost III–V NW solar cells and III–V NW/Si tandem solar cells.

GaN nanocolumns were synthesized on single-layer graphene via radio-frequency plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy, using a thin migration-enhanced epitaxy (MEE) AlN buffer layer as nucleation sites. Due to the weak nucleation on graphene, instead of an AlN thin-film we observe two distinguished AlN formations which affect the subsequent GaN nanocolumn growth: (i) AlN islands and (ii) AlN nanostructures grown along line defects (grain boundaries or wrinkles) of graphene. Structure (i) leads to the formation of vertical GaN nanocolumns regardless of the number of AlN MEE cycles, whereas (ii) can result in random orientation of the nanocolumns depending on the AlN morphology. Additionally, there is a limited amount of direct GaN nucleation on graphene, which induces non-vertical GaN nanocolumn growth. The GaN nanocolumn samples were characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution X-ray diffraction, room temperature micro-photoluminescence, and micro-Raman measurements. Surprisingly, the graphene with AlN buffer layer formed using less MEE cycles, thus resulting in lower AlN coverage, has a lower level of nitrogen plasma damage. The AlN buffer layer with lowest AlN coverage also provides the best result with respect to high-quality and vertically-aligned GaN nanocolumns. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

We demonstrate GaN nanocolumn growth on fused silica glass by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. The effect of the substrate temperature, Ga flux and N2 flow rate on the structural and optical properties are studied. At optimum growth conditions, GaN nanocolumns are vertically aligned and well separated with an average diameter, height and density of 72 nm, 1.2 μm and 1.6 × 109 cm−2, respectively. The nanocolumns exhibit wurtzite crystal structure with no threading dislocations, stacking faults or twinning and grow in the [0 0 0 1] direction. At the interface adjacent to the glass, there is a few atom layers thick intermediate phase with ABC stacking order (zinc blende). Photoluminescence measurements evidence intense and narrow excitonic emissions, along with the absence of any defect-related zinc blende and yellow luminescence emission.

Epitaxially grown ternary III-arsenide-antimonide (III-As-Sb) nanowires (NWs) are increasingly attracting attention due to their feasibility as a platform for the integration of largely lattice-mismatched antimonide-based heterostructures while preserving the high crystal quality. This and the inherent bandgap tuning flexibility of III-As-Sb in the near- and mid-infrared wavelength regions are important and auspicious premises for a variety of optoelectronic applications. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of the nucleation, morphology-change and crystal phase evolution of GaAsSb and InAsSb NWs and their characterization, especially in relation to Sb incorporation during growth. By linking these findings to the optical properties in such ternary NWs and their heterostructures, a brief account of the ongoing development of III-As-Sb NW-based photodetectors and light emitters is also given.

Ternary semiconductor nanowire arrays enable scalable fabrication of nano-optoelectronic devices with tunable bandgap. However, the lack of insight into the effects of the incorporation of Vy element results in lack of control on the growth of ternary III-V(1-y)Vy nanowires and hinders the development of high-performance nanowire devices based on such ternaries. Here, we report on the origins of Sb-induced effects affecting the morphology and crystal structure of self-catalyzed GaAsSb nanowire arrays. The nanowire growth by molecular beam epitaxy is changed both kinetically and thermodynamically by the introduction of Sb. An anomalous decrease of the axial growth rate with increased Sb2 flux is found to be due to both the indirect kinetic influence via the Ga adatom diffusion induced catalyst geometry evolution and the direct composition modulation. From the fundamental growth analyses and the crystal phase evolution mechanism proposed in this Letter, the phase transition/stability in catalyst-assisted ternary III-V-V nanowire growth can be well explained. Wavelength tunability with good homogeneity of the optical emission from the self-catalyzed GaAsSb nanowire arrays with high crystal phase purity is demonstrated by only adjusting the Sb2 flux.

Device configurations that enable a unidirectional propagation of carriers in a semiconductor are fundamental components for electronic and optoelectronic applications. To realize such devices, however, it is generally required to have complex processes to make p-n or Schottky junctions. Here we report on a unidirectional propagation effect due to a self-induced compositional variation in GaAsSb nanowires (NWs). The individual GaAsSb NWs exhibit a highly reproducible rectifying behavior, where the rectifying direction is determined by the NW growth direction. Combining the results from confocal micro-Raman spectroscopy, electron microscopy, and electrical measurements, the origin of the rectifying behavior is found to be associated with a self-induced variation of the Sb and the carrier concentrations in the NW. To demonstrate the usefulness of these GaAsSb NWs for device applications, NW-based photodetectors and logic circuits have been made.

Semiconductor nanowire lasers can produce guided coherent light emission with miniaturized geometry, bringing about new possibilities for a variety of applications including nanophotonic circuits, optical sensing, and on-chip and chip-to-chip optical communications. Here, we report on the realization of single-mode and room-temperature lasing from 890 nm to 990 nm utilizing a novel design of single nanowires with GaAsSb-based multiple axial superlattices as gain medium under optical pumping. The control of lasing wavelength via compositional tuning with excellent room-temperature lasing performance is shown to result from the unique nanowire structure with efficient gain material, which delivers a low lasing threshold of ~ 6 kW/cm2 (75 μJ/cm2 per pulse), a lasing quality factor as high as 1250 and a high characteristic temperature of ~ 129 K. These results present a major advancement for the design and synthesis of nanowire laser structures, which can pave the way towards future nanoscale integrated optoelectronic systems with superior performance. © American Chemical Society 2018. This is the authors accepted and refereed manuscript to the article. Locked until 4.3.2019 due to copyright restrictions.

Atomic structure models of semiconductor surfaces consider usually ideal models based on density functional theory calculations. In reality, however, semiconductor surfaces exhibit a variety of defects which deviate from this ideal surface structure. Depending on their specific nature and amount, these defects can contribute significantly to the total energy of the surface. Furthermore, the electronic properties and consequently their specific reactivity towards adsorption processes can be modified significantly due to the existence of surface defects. Here, we present an analysis of different kinds of defects at the GaAs(001)- c (4 × 4) surface reconstruction. The surfaces were prepared by thermal decapping of GaAs(001) epilayers grown by molecular beam epitaxy and capped by an amorphous As cap. High resolution measurements with scanning tunneling microscopy were performed at room temperature and allowed the identification and atomic analysis of several different kinds of surface defects. Apart from other defects we found indications that approximately 3% of the surface dimers are incomplete, consisting only of one As atom instead of two.

Using temperature dependent X-ray diffraction on two InSb single crystalline substrates, the bulk lattice constant of InSb was determined between 32 and 325 °C. A polynomial function was fitted to the data: a ( T ) = 6.4791 + 3.28 × 10 − 5 × T + 1.02 × 10 − 8 × T 2 A ( T in °C), which gives slightly higher values than previously published (which go up to 62 °C). From the fit, the thermal expansion of InSb was calculated to be α ( T ) = 5.062 × 10 − 6 + 3.15 × 10 − 9 × T K − 1 ( T in °C). We found that the thermal expansion coefficient is higher than previously published values above 100 °C (more than 10% higher at 325 °C).

We report on the growth, structural and electrical characterizations of Be-doped GaAs nanowires (NWs) grown by the Au- and Ga-assisted vapour–liquid–solid techniques using molecular beam epitaxy. The growth rate of Be-doped GaAs NWs grown by the Au-assisted technique is observed to be lower as compared to the growth rate of undoped GaAs NWs grown under identical conditions. However, no effect on either the growth rate or the morphology of NWs has been observed for Be-doped GaAs NWs grown by the Ga-assisted technique with the same Be flux as used for the Au-assisted technique. Electrical characterization reveals that the Ga-assisted grown NWs show more consistent, symmetric current–voltage (I–V) characteristics with higher electrical current than the Au-assisted grown NWs. Finally, we show that ohmic contacts to Be-doped Ga-assisted NWs can be achieved either by post-annealing the metal-contacted NW or increasing the doping concentration during the NW growth.

Accomplishing control of the crystal phases in III–V semiconductor nanowires (NWs) is important for applications in future advanced nano-devices. In this work, we report on the growth of both zinc blende (ZB) and wurtzite (WZ) GaAs in self-catalyzed GaAs and GaAs/GaAsSb axial heterostructured NWs on Si(111) substrates by the vapor–liquid–solid technique using molecular beam epitaxy. The self-catalyzed GaAs NWs usually adopt the ZB phase. However, by growing GaAs NWs with short GaAsSb axial inserts, the crystal phase of GaAs can be changed from ZB below the GaAsSb insert, to WZ above. This crystal phase change in GaAs can be explained in terms of a change in the contact angle of the Ga droplet which changes the fraction of the triple-phase-line in contact with the edge of the NW top facet and therefore affects the probability of nucleation for ZB and WZ phases. In addition, by growing ZB GaAs after the insert using a flux interruption, we demonstrate the growth of all combinations of crystal phases of the GaAs segments on both sides of the GaAsSb insert. This understanding has also enabled us to achieve the growth of WZ phase in GaAs NWs as well as a ZB–WZ–ZB GaAs NW heterostructure, by changing the Ga droplet contact angle, without growing a GaAsSb insert. The contact angle was controlled by introducing different flux interruptions and tuning the V/III flux ratio.

Here we report on the heat-induced solid-state replacement of GaAs by Au in nanowires. Such replacement of semiconductor nanowires by metals is envisioned as a method to achieve well-defined junctions within nanowires. To better understand the mechanisms and dynamics that govern the replacement reaction, we performed in situ heating studies using high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy. The dynamic evolution of the phase boundary was investigated, as well as the crystal structure and orientation of the different phases at reaction temperatures. In general, the replacement proceeds one GaAs(111) bilayer at a time, and no fixed epitaxial relation could be found between the two phases. The relative orientation of the phases affects the replacement dynamics and can induce growth twins in the Au nanowire phase. In the case of a limited Au supply, the metal phase can also become liquid.

Aluminum-based contacts could be a good alternative to conventional gold-based contacts for a number of GaSb-based devices. In this study, the use of some Al-based contacts in GaSb-based diode lasers was investigated via the measurement of specific contact resistivity and laser output characteristics. The Al-based contacts to p-type GaSb(001) exhibited lower specific contact resistivities than the conventional Au-based contacts, whereas the opposite was the case for contacts to n-type GaSb(001). The good performance of GaSb-based laser diodes using Al-based contacts shows the applicability of this type of contact in GaSb-based devices. The contact between Al only and p-type GaSb(001), however, could suffer from a reliability problem when used in diode lasers, due to interdiffusion, in which case a diffusion barrier should be included. This is the authors' accepted and refereed manuscript to the article. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. The following article appeared in Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B and may be found at http://avs.scitation.org/doi/10.1116/1.4967300

This paper examines and models the effect of temperature on the mode-locking capability of monolithic two-section InAs/GaAs quantum dot passively mode-locked lasers. A set of equations based on an analytic net-gain modulation phasor approach is used to model the observed mode-locking stability of these devices over temperature. The equations used rely solely on static material parameters, measured on the actual device itself, namely, the modal gain and loss characteristics, and govern the limit describing the onset of mode-locking. Employment of the measured gain and loss characteristics of the gain material over temperature, wavelength and current injection in the model provides a physical insight as to why the mode-locking shuts down at elevated temperatures. Moreover, the model enables a temperature-dependent prediction of the range of cavity geometries (absorber to gain length ratios) where mode-locking can be maintained. Excellent agreement between the measured and the modeled mode-locking stability over a wide temperature range is achieved for an 8-stack InAs/GaAs quantum dot mode-locked laser. This is an attractive tool to guide the design of monolithic passively mode-locked lasers for applications requiring broad temperature operation.

We have investigated the modification of the surface electric field (SEF) of the GaAs (001)-c(4 × 4) surface during the adsorption of cyclopentene and 1,4-cyclohexadiene molecules by reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy (RAS) in the spectral range from 1.5 to 5.0 eV. At around 3eV the RAS line shape originates from the so-called linear electro-optic effect (LEO). The amplitude of the LEO oscillation scales linearly with the SEF within the RAS penetration depth and is thus a measure for it. For the separation of the LEO from the RAS spectra several different methods are described in the literature. Here, we present a modified method which allows the LEO separation in particular for interfaces between GaAs and organic molecules. The results obtained this way show a significant increase of the LEO effect upon molecule adsorption indicating a higher SEF. The observed changes of the surface electronic properties are probably related to a modification of surface strain upon molecule adsorption.

We have previously shown that rapid thermal annealing (RTA) of Te-doped GaSb can increase the n-type carrier concentration (Bugge et al 2004 13th Int. Conf. on Mol. Beam Epitaxy (Edinburgh)). In order to see whether this process can be used on a complete laser structure, we have studied the effect of RTA on the active layers and cladding layers of a GaSb-based laser, as well as on the defect structure in the material. Multiple-quantum-well (MQW) structures of InGaAsSb/AlGaAsSb and InGaAsSb/AlInGaAsSb were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on GaSb substrates. The MQW structures were examined with photoluminescence (PL) and x-ray diffraction prior to and after RTA at 625°C and at 650°C for 10 s to look for differences in the (QW) structure. Highly Te-doped layers of GaSb grown by MBE were examined with PL to yield some information on the change in defect structure during RTA. The results show that atomic interdiffusion across the QW heterointerfaces plays a major role during RTA and that it can reduce interface strain for InGaAsSb/AlInGaAsSb MQWs. The diffusion length of group-III atoms was found to be about 2 nm after annealing at 650°C for 10 s.

Molecular beam epitaxy has been used to grow GaInAsSb/AlGaAsSb multiple-quantum-well (MQW) structures. Growth has been interrupted at the interfaces between the wells and the barriers. During the growth interruptions, the interfaces have been exposed to Sbx(x=1, 2) and As2 fluxes. The structures have been studied using high-resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and photoluminescence (PL). The As content in the interface layers has been found to have a large impact on the HRXRD curves. The As content in the interface layers has been determined by simulation of HRXRD rocking curves. We also show how highly strained interfaces cause more satellite peaks to appear in HRXRD rocking curves. PL spectra show that interrupting growth at the interfaces between wells and barriers and exposing the interfaces to an Sb soak result in flatter interfaces.

To efficiently evaluate the novel approach of focused ion beam (FIB) direct patterning of substrates for nanowire growth, a reference matrix of hole arrays has been used to study the effect of ion fluence and hole diameter on nanowire growth. Self-catalyzed GaAsSb nanowires were grown using molecular beam epitaxy and studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). To ensure an objective analysis, SEM images were analyzed with computer vision to automatically identify nanowires and characterize each array. It is shown that FIB milling parameters can be used to control the nanowire growth. Lower ion fluence and smaller diameter holes result in a higher yield (up to 83%) of single vertical nanowires, while higher fluence and hole diameter exhibit a regime of multiple nanowires. The catalyst size distribution and placement uniformity of vertical nanowires is best for low-value parameter combinations, indicating how to improve the FIB parameters for positioned-controlled nanowire growth.

Mid-infrared laser diodes have been fabricated and tested, and semiconductor materials related to mid-infrared lasers have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD).The temperature dependent lattice constant of Al0.9 Ga0.1AsySb1−y, GaSb, AlSb and InSb have been examined using XRD measurements. For Al0.9Ga0.1AsySb1−y, GaSb and AlSb, the lattice constants were measured for temperatures up to 546°C, while for InSb it was examined up to 325°C. For AlSb, also the temperature dependent Poisson ratio was determined. It was found that the thermal expansion of Al-containing layers above room temperature was higher than previously reported. An expression for the lattice matching condition for Al0.9Ga0.1AsySb1−y epilayers on GaSb substrates as a function of temperature was presented. For GaSb, it was found that the work of Bublik et al. [1] provided accurate data for the temperature dependent lattice constant, and either our data or Bublik et al. [1]’s data should be used. The measurement technique was validated by measuring the lattice constants of Si and GaAs, where our measured values were found to be in agreement with previously published values. For AlSb it was found that the thermal expansion was larger than previously reported in the literature. For InSb it was found that the lattice constant near room temperature was larger than previously reported, and the thermal expansion above 100°C was larger than previously reported.Laser material was grown using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The grown samples were processed into Y-junction laser diodes. The lasers were etched using inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) and photoresist (PR) ma-N 440 was spun on and baked for use as electrical insulation. The insulation layer was etched using reactive ion etching (RIE) to uncover the top of the etched lasers for contacting. It was found that a O2/CF4 etch gave the best uniformity of the insulation layer. The lasers were contacted and tested.The Y-junction lasers were characterized using power measurements for optical power, multimeters for diode voltage, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) for spectral measurements, and an infrared camera for near and far field measurements. The measurements suggested that the curved waveguide did not guide the light, most likely due to a low refractive index contrast. This was later supported by scanning electron microscope (SEM) measurements, which showed an etch depth of 1.4 μm, much lower than the etch target of 1.9 μm.The Y-junction waveguides were simulated using the beam propagation method (BPM). Based on 2D BPM simulations, it was found that an effective refractive index contrast of at least 0.03 is required for guiding light in a curved waveguide for our dimensions, and that waveguide roughness due to processing is less important. The simulations support the findings from the laser measurements, and further suggest that a deeper etch is required for functioning Y-junction laser diodes. Suggestions for improvements to the manufacturing mid-infrared laser diodes are presented.

A passively mode-locked laser with a 2.1-GHz fundamental repetition rate is demonstrated using a 20-mm-long monolithic two-section quantum-dot laser. A pulsewidth as short as 15.4 ps was measured using a high-speed sampling scope. The product of the peak power and average power in this laser is treated theoretically and shown experimentally to nearly double by roughly quadrupling the cavity length.

GaSb-based semiconductor diode lasers are promising candidates for light sources working in the mid-infrared wavelength region of 2-5 μm. Using edge emitting lasers with ridge-waveguide structure, light emission with good beam quality can be achieved. Fabrication of the ridge waveguide requires precise etch stop control for optimal laser performance. Simulation results are presented that show the effect of increased confinement in the waveguide when the etch depth is well-defined. In situ reflectance monitoring with a 675 nm-wavelength laser was used to determine the etch stop with high accuracy. Based on the simulations of laser reflectance from a proposed sample, the etching process can be controlled to provide an endpoint depth precision within ± 10 nm.

We report on the epitaxial growth of large-area position-controlled self-catalyzed GaAs nanowires (NWs) directly on Si by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Nanohole patterns are defined in a SiO2 mask on 2 in. Si wafers using nanoimprint lithography (NIL) for the growth of positioned GaAs NWs. To optimize the yield of vertical NWs the MBE growth parameter space is tuned, including Ga predeposition time, Ga and As fluxes, growth temperature, and annealing treatment prior to NW growth. In addition, a non-negligible radial growth is observed with increasing growth time and is found to be independent of the As species (i.e., As2 or As4) and the growth temperatures studied. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy analysis of the GaAs NW/Si substrate heterointerface reveals an epitaxial growth where NW base fills the oxide hole opening and eventually extends over the oxide mask. These findings have important implications for NW-based device designs with axial and radial p-n junctions. Finally, NIL positioned GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell heterostructured NWs are grown on Si to study the optical properties of the NWs. Room-temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy of ensembles of as-grown core-shell NWs reveals uniform and high optical quality, as required for the subsequent device applications. The combination of NIL and MBE thereby demonstrates the successful heterogeneous integration of highly uniform GaAs NWs on Si, important for fabricating high throughput, large-area position-controlled NW arrays for various optoelectronic device applications.

We report on the influence of hole pattern pitch lengths in the silicon oxide mask and specific nanowire (NW) locations on the morphology and luminescence properties of self-catalyzed GaAsSb NW arrays grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Due to stronger competition for the limited amount of Ga adatoms, the GaAsSb NWs in the center of arrays with short pitch lengths possess a smaller catalyst droplet contact angle than that of the NWs at the array edge. This smaller contact angle leads to a reduction in the collection of group V flux, bringing about shorter NWs in the center. For pitch lengths beyond the diffusion length of Ga adatoms on the mask, the GaAsSb NWs are taller with larger contact angles than in the case with short pitch lengths. Considering that Sb has a longer diffusion length on the side facets of the NWs than that of As, a reduction/increase of the contact angle will bring about an increase/reduction in the Sb/As ratio of the group-V fluxes collected by the catalyst droplets. By performing micr...

Symmetrically modulation doped GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs quantum-well structures, containing a monolayer thickness of single AlAs insertion in the well region, are studied by photoluminescence spectroscopy a ...

We describe promising semiconductor materials for optoelectronics. GaAsSb/AlSb quantum wells on GaSb substrates show photoluminescence near 1.54 μm (0.8 eV) that increases with increasing arsenic fraction. The materials can be monolithically integrated with AlGaSb/AlSb or AlGaAsSb/AlAsSb Bragg mirrors.

The optical properties of the wurtzite (WZ) GaAs crystal phase found in nanowires (NWs) are a highly controversial topic. Here, we study high-quality pure WZ GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell NWs grown by Au-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) with microphotoluminescence spectroscopy (μ-PL) and (scanning) transmission electron microscopy on the very same single wire. We determine the room temperature (294 K) WZ GaAs bandgap to be 1.444 eV, which is ∼20 meV larger than in zinc blende (ZB) GaAs, and show that the free exciton emission at 15 K is at 1.516 eV. On the basis of time- and temperature-resolved μ-PL results, we propose a Γ(8) conduction band symmetry in WZ GaAs. We suggest a method for quantifying the optical quality of NWs, taking into consideration the difference between the room and low temperature integrated PL intensity, and demonstrate that Au-assisted GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell NWs can have high PL brightness up to room temperature.

The performance of GaAs nanowire (NW) devices depends critically on the presence of crystallographic defects in the NWs such as twinning planes and stacking faults, and considerable effort has been devoted to understanding and preventing the occurrence of these. For self-catalysed GaAs NWs grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) in particular, there are in addition other types of defects that may be just as important for NW-based optoelectronic devices. These are the point defects such as the As vacancy and the Ga antisite occurring due to the inherently Ga-rich conditions of the self-catalysed growth. Here we demonstrate experimentally the effects of these point defects on the optical properties of GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell NWs grown by self-catalysed MBE. The present results enable insight into the role of the point defects both on their own and in conjunction with crystallographic planar defects.

The growth of monocrystalline semiconductor nanowires on arbitrary substrates via the metal-induced crystallization (MIC) process extends the possible combinations of substrates and epitaxial active materials. However, it is still difficult to accomplish high-density vertical nanowire growth on the MIC polycrystalline Si(111) substrate. Here, the authors report on the growth of self-catalyzed GaAs nanowires by molecular beam epitaxy on MIC polycrystalline Si(111) substrates with different surface oxide conditions. Forming the surface oxide by annealing the freshly hydrofluoric acid-etched MIC polycrystalline Si(111) substrate in an ambient atmosphere is found to be a key step to grow high-density GaAs nanowires. Moreover, the addition of Sb during nanowire growth improves the density of vertical nanowires. Photoluminescence measurements reveal a high optical quality of the GaAs nanowires, indicating that the nanowires grown on MIC polycrystalline Si(111) substrate may be used as building blocks for semico...

By utilizing the reduced contact area of nanowires, we show that epitaxial growth of a broad range of semiconductors on graphene can in principle be achieved. A generic atomic model is presented which describes the epitaxial growth configurations applicable to all conventional semiconductor materials. The model is experimentally verified by demonstrating the growth of vertically aligned GaAs nanowires on graphite and few-layer graphene by the self-catalyzed vapor-liquid-solid technique using molecular beam epitaxy. A two-temperature growth strategy was used to increase the nanowire density. Due to the self-catalyzed growth technique used, the nanowires were found to have a regular hexagonal cross-sectional shape, and are uniform in length and diameter. Electron microscopy studies reveal an epitaxial relationship of the grown nanowires with the underlying graphitic substrates. Two relative orientations of the nanowire side-facets were observed, which is well explained by the proposed atomic model. A prototype of a single GaAs nanowire photodetector demonstrates a high-quality material. With GaAs being a model system, as well as a very useful material for various optoelectronic applications, we anticipate this particular GaAs nanowire/graphene hybrid to be promising for flexible and low-cost solar cells.

Optical interconnects have been highlighted as a key technology to alleviate the shortcomings inherent to traditional inter-chip copper interconnects in terms of bandwidth, power consumption and reliability [1]. In particular, the monolithic two-section quantum dot passively mode-locked laser (QDMLL) has emerged as an impressive low noise source of pico-second optical pulses [2]. As well as its compact size and direct electrical pumping, the QDMLL emits at wavelengths compatible with Si-based waveguides and detectors. For use in optical interconnects, ideally, the transmitter will be situated close to the CPU cores and will therefore need to operate over a broad temperature range, with highs typically in the vicinity of 100 °C. It is therefore desirable to develop uncooled optical interconnects, firstly to reduce system size and complexity and secondly to eliminate the power-hungry cooling requirements associated with diode lasers. In this paper, we discuss our approach to developing uncooled, ultra low energy/bit QD MLL transmitters capable of providing high quality optical pulse trains suitable for multiplexing up to the 100s of Gbps level. Up until now an analytical method to guide the design of temperature resistant MLLs based on convenient, measureable material parameters has not existed.

GaAs nanowires (NWs) are seen as promising building blocks for future optoelectronic devices. To ensure reproducible properties, a high NW uniformity is required. Here, a substantial number of both position-controlled and randomly grown self-catalyzed GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell NWs are compared. Single NWs are characterized by correlated microphotoluminescence (µ-PL) spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). TEM is done in the 〈110〉- and 〈112〉-projections, and on the 〈111〉-cross-section of the NWs. The position-control grown NWs showed a higher degree of uniformity in morphology. All NWs on both samples had a predominantly stacking fault free zinc blende structure, with a main optical response around the GaAs free exciton energy. However, NW-to-NW structural variations in the tip region and radial compositional variations in the shell are present in both samples. These structural features could be the origin of variations in the optical response just below and above the free exciton energy. This correlated study demonstrates that the observed distinct, sharp PL peaks in the 1.6 - 1.8 eV energy range present in several NWs, are possibly related to radial compositional variations in the AlGaAs shell rather than the structural defects in the tip region.

In situ condensation of an amorphous cap of the high vapour pressure element (i.e., As, Sb) has been found to provide effective protection of molecular beam epitaxy grown compound semiconductor surfaces against ambient contamination. Most work reported so far relates to arsenic-capped AlGaAs. Detailed investigation with surface sensitive structural (RHEED, LEED) and chemical (XPS) probes confirms that the protective cap is conveniently removed by annealing in ultrahigh vaccum environments at a temperature in excess of similar 350 °C. Clean AlxGa1-xAs(001) surfaces with different atomic reconstructions and corresponding (Al)Ga: As composition ratios are now routinely prepared by this technique, and thus offers an ideal testing ground for compound semiconductor surface and interface research. Reconstruction-dependent reactivity at metal/GaAs(001) interfaces is demonstrated, using surface sensitive synchrotron radiation photoelectron spectroscopy. Exploiting the protection offered by the As (Sb) cap for device fabrication purposes (e.g., in selective area epitaxy), demands a suitable method of pattern definition in the amorphous arsenic layer. The cap is shown to be chemically stable versus exposure to standard photolithographic processing chemicals, including photoresist, developer, and acetone (the photoresist solvent). However, the temperature required for thermal decapping is grossly inappropriate for photoresist curing. A novel technique of reactive decapping in a beam of hydrogen radicals (H*) is shown to be effective at room temperature. This innovation makes pattern definition in the As cap compatible with standard photolithography, and test structures with similar 5 μm linewidth is demonstrated. Scanning electron micrographs unveil the presence of arsenic cap residues along the photoresist mask edges. Moreover, trace amounts of surface gallium oxide and carbon impurities were found with core-level photoelectron spectroscopy. The technique thus needs further refinement, before being useful in fabrication of compound semiconductor device structures.

By characterizing the light emission from reconfigurable edge-emitting devices, measured gain and spontaneous emission data are fed into a theoretical model to predict the spectral shape of quantum dot superluminescent LEDs.

To correlate optical properties to structural characteristics, we developed a robust strategy for characterizing the same individual heterostructured semiconductor nanowires (NWs) by alternating low temperature micro-photoluminescence (μ-PL), low voltage scanning (transmission) electron microscopy and conventional transmission electron microscopy. The NWs used in this work were wurtzite GaAs core with zinc blende GaAsSb axial insert and AlGaAs radial shell grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The series of experiments demonstrated that high energy (200 kV) electrons are detrimental for the optical properties, whereas medium energy (5-30 kV) electrons do not affect the PL response. Thus, such medium energy electrons can be used to select NWs for correlated optical-structural studies prior to μ-PL or in NW device processing. The correlation between the three main μ-PL bands and crystal phases of different compositions, present in this heterostructure, is demonstrated for selected NWs. The positions where a NW fractures during specimen preparation can considerably affect the PL spectra of the NW. The effects of crystal-phase variations and lattice defects on the optical properties are discussed. The established strategy can be applied to other nanosized electro-optical materials, and other characterization tools can be incorporated into this routine.

This paper examines and models the effect of temperature on the mode-locking stability of monolithic two-section InAs/GaAs quantum dot passively mode-locked lasers. A set of equations based on an analytic net-gain modulation phasor approach is used to model the observed mode-locking stability of these devices over temperature. The equations used rely solely on static device parameters, measured on the actual device itself, namely, the modal gain and loss characteristics and describe the hard limit where mode-locking exists. Employment of the measured gain and loss characteristics of the gain material over temperature, wavelength and current injection in the model provides a physical insight as to why the mode-locking shuts at elevated temperatures. Moreover, the model enables a temperature-dependent prediction of the range of cavity geometries (absorber to gain length ratios) where mode-locking exists. Excellent agreement between the measured and the modeled mode-locking stability over a wide temperature range is achieved for an 8-stack InAs/GaAs mode-locked laser. This is an extremely attractive tool to guide the design of monolithic passively mode-locked lasers for applications requiring broad temperature operation.

We report on a crystal phase-dependent photoluminescence (PL) polarization effect in individual wurtzite GaAs nanowires with a zinc blende GaAsSb insert grown by Au-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. The PL emission from the zinc blende GaAsSb insert is strongly polarized along the nanowire axis while the emission from the wurtzite GaAs nanowire is perpendicularly polarized. The results indicate that the crystal phases, through optical selection rules, are playing an important role in the alignment of the PL polarization in nanowires besides the linear polarization induced by the dielectric mismatch. The strong excitation power dependence and long recombination lifetimes ( approximately 4 ns) from the wurtzite GaAs and zinc blende GaAsSb-related PL emission strongly indicate the existence of type II band alignments in the nanowire due to the presence of nanometer thin zinc blende segments and stacking faults in the wurtzite GaAs barrier.

We report the results on the growth, structural and optical characterization of single wurtzite (WZ) GaAs nanowires as well as WZ GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell nanowires with ZB GaAsSb inserts. For the GaAs/GaAsSb heterojunction both the crystal material and crystal phase change plays a critical role in the exact band alignment. We show that ZB GaAsSb inserts with both WZ and ZB GaAs barriers can be grown and hence both type I and type II band alignment can be achieved which has large effects on the optical properties of the nanowires. We thus demonstrate that it is possible to engineer the band-structure at a semiconductor heterojunction by modulating the crystal material as well as the crystal phase.

We have demonstrated the growth of a unique wurtzite (WZ) GaAs nanowire (NW) with a zinc blende (ZB) GaAsSb insert by Au-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. An abrupt interface from the WZ GaAs phase to the ZB GaAsSb phase was observed, whereas an intermediate segment of a 4H polytype GaAs phase was found directly above the ZB GaAsSb insert. A possible mechanism for the different phase transitions is discussed. Furthermore, low temperature microphotoluminescence (micro-PL) measurements showed evidence of quantum confinement of holes in the GaAsSb insert.

Up to now most of the experimental work regarding the adsorption of organic molecules has been concerned with silicon. Here we study the interface formation on a III–V-semiconductor, GaAs(001). We show that reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy (RAS) is a sensitive technique for investigating the interface formation between organic molecules and semiconductor surfaces. With RAS it is possible to determine the surface reconstruction and the structural changes at the interface during the deposition of organic molecules. These changes and the underlying adsorption process are discussed here for the adsorption of cyclopentene on GaAs(001)c(4×4), (2×4) and (4×2).

Differential reflection measurements are performed on a n-i-p-i modulator with superlattice in the active layer. We use a modulation ellipsometer with pulsed laser excitation of the sample, avoiding electrical contacting of the device. We present for the first time a density matrix model which can be used for calculating the dielectric function of both superlattices as well as multiple quantum wells. The model includes the off-diagonal Coulomb coupling potentials, which are crucial for superlattice structure modeling, and the applied electric field which is required in a modulator device. An optical transfer-matrix model is used to obtain the differential reflection spectra of the device, using the dielectric function of the superlattice calculated with the density matrix model. Thus a direct and quantitative comparison with the experimental spectrum is shown.

Photonic crystal structures defined by interferometric lithography were etched into GaSb and AlGaAsSb with 90% Al content using Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) with BCl3 and BCl3/Ar gas mixture. Effects of DC bias, hole diameter, etch time and gas composition, on the etch rate of GaSb were investigated. Hardened photoresist (PR) was used as an etch mask for the experiments.

The optical properties of indium islands on GaAs(001) surfaces have been studied by reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy as a function of metal coverage. A large optical anisotropy is observed, which shows an oscillatory behavior and scales with the island size: mean island sizes determined by scanning electron microscope correspond to the wavelengths where extremes in the optical anisotropy arise. We explain this behavior by surface plasmon resonances of the island structure which induce a huge optical anisotropy related to the anisotropic shape and distribution of the In islands. Model calculations of the reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy signal based on a layer system where the island film is represented by an effective medium consisting of ellipsoidal metal particles in a vacuum matrix reproduce the main oscillation and support our conclusion.

Semiconductor lasers, semiconductor optical amplifiers, and photodetectors that operate at wavelengths near 1.5 microns are important for optical communications and other photonics applications. High quality semiconductors with absorption edge near 1.5 microns are needed for these devices. We describe a novel semiconductor material, with band gap near 1.5 microns, which has several advantages when compared with conventional semiconductors.

The indium-stabilized $\mathrm{GaAs}(001)\ensuremath{-}c(8\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2)$ surface was investigated by surface x-ray diffraction and x-ray standing waves. We find that the reconstruction closely resembles the $c(8\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2)$ structure described by the recently proposed unified model for clean III-V semiconductor surfaces [Kumpf et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 3586 (2001)]. Consistent with this unified model, no In dimers are found for the present surface. Instead, for coverages less than 0.25 monolayers, the In adatoms adsorb at the initially unoccupied hollow sites to form In rows along the [110] direction. Between the In rows, surface and subsurface Ga dimers are found to coexist in the trench areas. Above 0.25 monolayers, the additional In adatoms fill the trenches and replace the surface Ga atoms. The final structure of the surface layer is essentially identical to the InAs clean surface, except that the In heights are substantially different due to the lateral strain induced by the lattice mismatch. This structural difference explains why the ladder-type pattern observed previously by scanning tunneling microscopy only appears for the In/GaAs(001) and InAs/GaAs(001) surfaces, but not for the InAs clean surface. The structural model we propose for the In-stabilized $\mathrm{GaAs}(001)\ensuremath{-}c(8\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2)$ surface, which fully agrees with the scanning tunneling microscopy results, should therefore generally apply to strained InAs(001) surfaces.