Physico−mathematical model of the voltage−current characteristics of light-emitting diodes with quantum wells based on the Sah−Noyce−Shockley recombination mechanism

Herein,a physical and mathematical model of the voltage−current characteristics of a p−n heterostructure with quantum wells(QWs)is prepared using the Sah−Noyce−Shockley(SNS)recombination mechanism to show the SNS recombination rate of the correction function of the distribution of QWs in the space charge region of diode configuration.A comparison of the model voltage−current characteristics(VCCs)with the experimental ones reveals their adequacy.The technological parameters of the structure of the VCC model are determined experimentally using a nondestructive capacitive approach for determining the impurity distribution profile in the active region of the diode structure with a profile depth resolution of up to 10Å.The correction function in the expression of the recombination rate shows the possibility of determining the derivative of the VCCs of structures with QWs with a nonideality factor of up to 4.

Reanalysis of energy band structure in the type-II quantum wells

Band structure analysis holds significant importance for understanding the optoelectronic characteristics of semiconductor structures and exploring their potential applications in practice. For quantum well structures, the energy of carriers in the well splits into discrete energy levels due to the confinement of barriers in the growth direction. However, the discrete energy levels obtained at a fixed wave vector cannot accurately reflect the actual energy band structure. In this work, the band structure of the type-II quantum wells is reanalyzed. When the wave vectors of the entire Brillouin region(corresponding to the growth direction) are taken into account, the quantized energy levels of the carriers in the well are replaced by subbands with certain energy distributions. This new understanding of the energy bands of low-dimensional structures not only helps us to have a deeper cognition of the structure, but also may overturn many viewpoints in traditional band theories and serve as supplementary to the band theory of low-dimensional systems.

Lower bound on the spread of valley splitting in Si/SiGe quantum wells induced by atomic rearrangement at the interface

The achievement of universal quantum computing critically relies on scalability.However,ensuring the necessary uniformity for scalable silicon electron spin qubits poses a significant challenge due to the considerable fluctuations in valley splitting energy(E_(VS))across quantum dot arrays,which impede the initialization of qubit systems comprising multiple spins and give rise to spin–valley entanglement resulting in the loss of spin information.These E_(VS)fluctuations have been attributed to variations in the in-plane averaged alloy concentration along the confinement direction of Si/SiGe quantum wells.In this study,employing atomistic pseudopotential calculations,we unveil a significant spectrum of E_(VS)even in the absence of such concentration fluctuations.This spectrum represents the lower limit of the wide range of E_(VS)observed in numerous Si/SiGe quantum devices.By constructing simplified interface atomic step models,we analytically demonstrate that the lower bound of the E_(VS)spread originates from the in-plane random distribution of Si and Ge atoms within SiGe barriers——an inherent characteristic that has been previously overlooked.Additionally,we propose an interface engineering approach to mitigate the in-plane randomness-induced fluctuations in E_(VS)by inserting a few monolayers of pure Ge barrier at the Si/SiGe interface.Our findings provide valuable insights into the critical role of in-plane randomness in determining E_(VS)in Si/SiGe quantum devices and offer reliable methods to enhance the feasibility of scalable Si-based spin qubits.

Influence of barrier thickness on the structural and optical properties of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells

The structural and optical properties of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells （MQWs） with different barrier thick-nesses are studied by means of high resolution X-ray diffraction （HRXRD）, a cross-sectional transmission electron mi-croscope （TEM）, and temperature-dependent photoluminescence （PL） measurements. HRXRD and cross-sectional TEM measurements show that the interfaces between wells and barriers are abrupt and the entire MQW region has good periodic- ity for all three samples. As the barrier thickness is increased, the temperature of the turning point from blueshift to redshift of the S-shaped temperature-dependent PL peak energy increases monotonously, which indicates that the localization po- tentials due to In-rich clusters is deeper. From the Arrhenius plot of the normalized integrated PL intensity, it is found that there are two kinds of nonradiative recombination processes accounting for the thermal quenching of photoluminescence, and the corresponding activation energy （or the localization potential） increases with the increase of the barrier thickness. The dependence on barrier thickness is attributed to the redistribution of In-rich clusters during the growth of barrier layers, i.e., clusters with lower In contents aggregate into clusters with higher In contents.

Blue InGaN light-emitting diodes with dip-shaped quantum wells

InGaN based light-emitting diodes （LEDs） with dip-shaped quantum wells and conventional rectangular quantum ~lls are numerically investigated by using the APSYS simulation software. It is found that the structure with dip- aped quantum wells shows improved light output power, lower current leakage and less efficiency droop. Based on Lmerical simulation and analysis, these improvements on the electrical and the optical characteristics are attributed ainly to the alleviation of the electrostatic field in dip-shaped InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells （MQWs）.

Direct Observation of Carrier Transportation Process in InGaAs/GaAs Multiple Quantum Wells Used for Solar Cells and Photodetectors

The resonant excitation is used to generate photo-excited carriers in quantum wells to observe the process of the carriers transportation by comparing the photoluminescence results between quantum wells with and without a p-n junction. It is observed directly in experiment that most of the photo-excited carriers in quantum wells with a p-n junction escape from quantum wells and form photoeurrent rather than relax to the ground state of the quantum wells. The photo absorption coei^cient of multiple quantum wells is also enhanced by a p-n junction. The results pave a novel way for solar cells and photodetectors making use of low-dimensional structure.

Effects of InGaN barriers with low indium content on internal quantum efficiency of blue InGaN multiple quantum wells

Blue In0.2Ga0.8N multiple quantum wells （MQWs） with InxGa1-xN （x = 0.01 - 0.04） barriers are grown by metal organic vapour phase epitaxy. The internal quantum efficiencies （IQEs） of these MQWs are studied in a way of temperature-dependent photoluminescenee spectra. Furthermore, a 2-channel Arrhenius model is used to analyse the nonradiative recombination centres （NRCs）. It is found that by adopting the InGaN barrier beneath the lowest well, it is possible to reduce the strain hence the NRCs in InGaN MQWs. By optimizing the thickness and the indium content of the InGaN barriers, the IQEs of InGaN/InGaN MQWs can be increased by about 2.5 times compared with conventional InGaN/GaN MQWs. On the other hand, the incorporation of indium atoms into the intermediate barriers between adjacent wells does not improve IQE obviously. In addition, the indium content of the intermediate barriers should match with that of the lowest barrier to avoid relaxation.

Visualizing light-to-electricity conversion process in InGaN/GaN multi-quantum wells with a p-n junction

Absorption and carrier transport behavior plays an important role in the light-to-electricity conversion process, which is difficult to characterize. Here we develop a method to visualize such a conversion process in the InGaN/GaN multiquantum wells embedded in a p-n junction. Under non-resonant absorption conditions, a photocurrent was generated and the photoluminescence intensity decayed by more than 70% when the p-n junction out-circuit was switched from open to short. However, when the excitation photon energy decreased to the resonant absorption edge, the photocurrent dropped drastically and the photoluminescence under open and short circuit conditions showed similar intensity. These results indicate that the escaping of the photo-generated carriers from the quantum wells is closely related to the excitation photon energy.

Intersubband absorption with difference-frequency generation in GaAs asymmetric quantum wells

An asymmetric quantum well （AQW） is designed to emit terahertz （THz） waves by using difference frequency generation （DFG） with the structure of GaAs/Al0.2Ga0.8As/Al0.5Ga0.sAs. The characteristics of absorption coefficients are analysed under the parabolic and non-parabolic energy-band conditions in detail. We find that the absorption coefficients vary with the two pump optical intensities, and they reach the maxima when the pump wavelengths are given as λp1 = 9.70 μm and λp2 = 10.64 μm, respectively. Compared with non-parabolic conditions, the total absorption coefficient under parabolic conditions shows a blue shift, which is due to the increase in the energy difference between the ground and excited states. By adjusting the two pump optical intensities, the wave vector phase-matching condition inside the AQW is satisfied.

Optical properties of InGaAsBi/GaAs strained quantum wells studied by temperature-dependent photoluminescence

The effect of bismuth on the optical properties of InGaAsBi/GaAs quantum well structures is investigated using the temperature-dependent photoluminescence from 12 K to 450 K.The incorporation of bismuth in the InGaAsBi quantum well is confirmed and found to result in a red shift of photoluminescence wavelength of 27.3 meV at 300 K.The photoluminescence intensity is significantly enhanced by about 50 times at 12 K with respect to that of the InGaAs quantum well due to the surfactant effect of bismuth.The temperature-dependent integrated photoluminescence intensities of the two samples reveal different behaviors related to various non-radiative recombination processes.The incorporation of bismuth also induces alloy non-uniformity in the quantum well,leading to an increased photoluminescence linewidth.

Spin-orbit interaction in coupled quantum wells

We theoretically investigate the spin-orbit interaction in GaAs/AlxGal_xAs coupled quantum wells. We consider the contribution of the interface-related Rashba term as well as the linear and cubic Dresselhaus terms to the spin splitting. For the coupled quantum wells which bear an inherent structure inversion asymmetry, the same probability density distribution of electrons in the two step quantum wells results in a large spin splitting from the interface term. If the widths of the two step quantum wells are different, the electron probability density in the wider step quantum well is considerably higher than that in the narrower one, resulting in the decrease of the spin splitting from the interface term. The results also show that the spin splitting of the coupled quantum well is not significantly larger than that of a step quantum well.

Room-temperature direct-bandgap photoluminescence from strain-compensated Ge/SiGe multiple quantum wells on silicon

Strain-compensated Ge/Si0.15Ge0.85 multiple quantum wells were grown on an Si0.1 Ge0.9 virtual substrate using ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition technology on an n＋-Si（001） substrate. Photoluminescence measurements were performed at room temperature, and the quantum confinement effect of the direct-bandgap transitions of a Ge quantum well was observed, which is in good agreement with the calculated results. The luminescence mechanism was discussed by recombination rate analysis and the temperature dependence of the luminescence spectrum.

Control over hysteresis curves and thresholds of optical bistability in different semiconductor double quantum wells

The effects of optical field on the phenomenon of optical bistability(OB) are investigated in a K-type semiconductor double quantum well(SDQW) under various parametric conditions. It is shown that the OB threshold can be manipulated by increasing the intensity of coupling field. The dependence of the shift of OB hysteresis curve on probe wavelength detuning is then explored. In order to demonstrate controllability of the OB in this SDQW, we compare the OB features of three different configurations which could arise in this SDQW scheme, i.e., K-type, Y-type, and inverted Y-type systems. The controllability of this semiconductor nanostructure medium makes the presented OB scheme more valuable for applications in all-optical switches, information storage, and logic circuits of all optical information processing.

Tuning of the Electron Spin Relaxation Anisotropy via Optical Gating in GaAs/AlGaAs Quantum Wells

The carrier-density-dependent spin relaxation dynamics for modulation-doped GaAs/Al0.3 Gao,TAs quantum wells is studied using the time-resolved magneto-Kerr rotation measurements. The electron spin relaxation time and its in-plane anisotropy are studied as a function of the optically injected electron density, Moreover, the relative strength of the Rashba and the Dresselhaus spin-rbit coupling fields, and thus the observed spin relaxation time anisotropy, is further tuned by the additional excitation of a 532nm continuous wave laser, demonstrating an effective spin relaxation manipulation via an optical gating method.

Effect of Si δ-Doping on the Linear and Nonlinear Optical Absorptions and Refractive Index Changes in InAlN/GaN Single Quantum Wells

In the framework of effective mass approximation, we theoretically investigate the electronic structure of the Si δ-doped InAIN/GaN single quantum well by solving numerically the coupled equations Schrodinger-Poisson self-consistently. The linear, nonlinear optical absorption coefficients and relative refractive index changes are calculated as functions of the doping concentration and its thickness. The obtained results show that the position and the amplitude of the linear and total optical absorption coefficients and the refractive index changes can be modified by varying the doping concentration and its thickness. In addition, it is found that the maximum of the optical absorption can be red-shifted or blue-shifted by varying the doping concentration. The obtained results are important for the design of various electronic components such as high-power FETs and infrared photonic devices.

Direct-bandgap electroluminescence from tensile-strained Ge/SiGe multiple quantum wells at room temperature

Tensile-strained Ge/SiGe multiple quantum wells （MQWs） were grown on a Ge-on-Si virtual substrate using ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition on an n＋-Si （001） substrate. Direct-bandgap electroluminescence from the MQWs light emitting diode was observed at room temperature. The quantum confinement effect of the direct-bandgap transitions is in good agreement with the theoretical calculated results. The redshift mechanism of emission wavelength related to the thermal effect is discussed,

Band Structure and Optical Gain of InGaAs/GaAsBi Type-Ⅱ Quantum Wells Modeled by the k·p Model

Optical gains of type-Ⅱ In Ga As/Ga As Bi quantum wells（QWs） with W, N, and M shapes are analyzed theoretically for near-infrared laser applications. The bandgap and wave functions are calculated using the self-consistent k·p Hamiltonian, taking into account valence band mixing and the strain effect. Our calculations show that the M-shaped type-Ⅱ QWs are a promising structure for making 1.3 um lasers at room temperature because they can easily be used to obtain 1.3 um for photoluminescence with a proper thickness and have large wave-function overlap for high optical gain.

Dispersion of exciton-polariton based on ZnO/MgZnO quantum wells at room temperature

We report observation of dispersion for coupled exciton-polariton in a plate microcavity combining with ZnO/MgZnO multi-quantum well (QW) at room temperature. Benefited from the large exciton binding energy and giant oscillator strength, the room-temperature Rabi splitting energy can be enhanced to be as large as 60 meV. The results of excitonic polariton dispersion can be well described using the coupling wave model. It is demonstrated that mode modification between polariton branches allowing, just by controlling the pumping location, to tune the photonic fraction in the different detuning can be investigated comprehensively. Our results present a direct observation of the exciton-polariton dispersions based on two-dimensional oxide semiconductor quantum wells, thus provide a feasible road for coupling of exciton with photon and pave the way for realizing novel polariton-type optoelectronic devices.

Electron tunneling effects on radiative recombination in modulation n-doped ZnSe/BeTe type-II quantum wells

We have studied the cyclotron-resonance absorption and photoluminescence properties of the modulation n-doped ZnSe/BeTe/ZnSe type-Ⅱ quantum wells. It is shown that only the doped sample shows electron cyclotron-resonance absorption. Also, the undoped sample shows two distinctive peaks in the spatially indirect photoluminescence spectra, and the doped one shows only one peak. The results reveal that the high concentration electrons accumulated in ZnSe quantum well layers from n-doped layers can tunnel through BeTe barrier from one well layer to the other. The electron concentration difference between these two well layers originating from the tunneling results in a new additional electric field, and can cancel out a built-in electric field as observed in the undoped structures.

Room-Temperature Annealing of 1 MeV Electron Irradiated Lattice Matched In0.53Ga0.47As/InP Multiple Quantum Wells

Long-term room-temperature annealing effects of InGaAs/InP quantum wells with different wells （namely triple wells and five wells embedded） and bulk InCaAs are investigated after high energy electron irradiation. It is observed that the photoluminescence （PL） intensity of bulk InGaAs materials is enhanced after low dose electron irradiation and the PL intensity for all the three samples is degraded dramatically when the electron dose is relatively high. With respect to the room-temperature annealing, we find that the PL intensity for both samples recovers relatively fast at the initial stage. The PL performance of multiple quantum-well samples shows better recovery after irradiation compared with the results of bulk InGaAs materials. Meanwhile, the recovery speed factors of multiple quantum-well samples are relatively faster than those of the bulk InGaAs materials as well. We infer that the recovery difference between the quantum-well materials and bulk materials originates from the fact that the radiation induced defects are confined in the quantum wells as a consequence of the free energy barrier between the In0.53Ga0.47 As wells and InP barrier layers.