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We present a low-temperature (73 K) study of the optical properties of multi-layer type II InP/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots by means of surface photovoltage (SPV) spectroscopy, taking advantage of its high sensitivity and contactless nature. The samples contain 10 periods of InP quantum dot planes separated by 5 nm GaAs spacers. The SPV amplitude spectra reveal two major broad peaks, situated at low and high energies, respectively. These features are analyzed taking into account the type II character of the structure, the quantum coupling effects, the spectral behavior of the SPV phase, and the photoluminescence spectra. As a result they have been attributed to optical transitions in the quantum dots and the wetting layers, respectively. The main mechanism for carrier separation in the SPV generation process is clarified via the analysis of the SPV phase spectra. The influence of the substrate absorption on the SPV spectra is discussed in details. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated structural and optical properties of type-II InP/GaAs quantum dots using reflection high energy electron diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, grazing incidence x-ray diffraction, and photoluminescence techniques. The InP dots present an efficient optical emission even when they are uncapped, which is attributed to the low surface recombination velocity in InP. We compare the difference in the optical properties between surface free dots, which are not covered by any material, with dots covered by a GaAs capping layer. We observed a bimodal dispersion of the dot size distribution, giving rise to two distinct emission bands. The results also revealed that the strain accumulated in the InP islands is slightly relieved for samples with large InP amounts. An unexpected result is the relatively large blue shift of the emission band from uncapped samples as compared to capped dots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the electron spin dynamics in a p-type GaAs/AlAs resonant tunnelling device by measuring the time- and polarized-resolved photoluminescence (PL) from the GaAs quantum well under a high magnetic field (15 T). The voltage dependence of the PL transients have revealed various tunnelling processes with different time constants that give rise to distinct spin-polarized carriers injected into the double-barrier structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated two stacked layers of InP/GaAs type-II quantum dots by transmission electron microscopy and optical spectroscopy. The results reveal that InP quantum dots formed in two quantum dot layers are more uniform than those from a single layer structure. The thermal activation energies as well as the photoluminescence decays are rather independent of the separation between quantum dot layers and the presence of the second layer. The quantum dot optical emission persists for thermal activation energy larger than the calculated exciton binding energy. The photoluminescence decay is relatively fast for type-II alignment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors investigate the circular polarization of the electro- and photoluminescence emissions from the quantum well and contact layers of a nonmagnetic GaAs–AlAs p-i-n resonant tunneling diode under an external magnetic field. The contact emission evidences the formation of a spin polarized two-dimensional electron gas at the n-accumulation layer. The quantum well electroluminescence presents a strong σ- degree of polarization, even for null Zeeman splitting energies, and a slight bias dependence. The observed circular polarization is mainly attributed to the spin polarization of the electrons injected into the quantum well from the two-dimensional electron gas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]