The effects of InP grown by He-plasma assisted epitaxy on quantum-well intermixing

Author

Yin, Tao ; Letal, G.J. ; Robinson, B.J. ; Thompson, D.A.

Author_Institution

Centre for Electrophotonic Mater. & Devices, McMaster Univ., Hamilton, Ont., Canada

Volume

37

Issue

3

fYear

2001

fDate

3/1/2001 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

426

Lastpage

429

Abstract

He-plasma assisted InP (He*-InP) layers grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy (GSMBE) have been employed to enhance quantum well (QW) intermixing induced by rapid thermal annealing in a 1.5 μm InGaAsP QW laser structure. Inserting a 40 nm He*-InP layer just above the active region enhances the blue-shift for anneal temperatures larger than 680°C, and a 42 nm additional blue-shift is obtained at 750°C for samples with the He*InP layer, compared to samples with normal InP replacing the He*-InP. This is accompanied by a reduction in the photoluminescence (PL) intensity for anneal temperatures greater than 600°C and is attributed to the migration of nonradiative defects from the He*-InP layer into the QWs. Insertion of a thin InGaAs layer between the He*-InP layer and the QW blocks the diffusion of these nonradiative defects into the QW. The results indicate that the He*-InP material could prove useful in QW intermixing to achieve integrated optoelectronic devices, in particular for high-frequency devices which require short carrier lifetimes

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; carrier lifetime; gallium arsenide; gallium compounds; indium compounds; molecular beam epitaxial growth; photoluminescence; plasma CVD; quantum well lasers; rapid thermal annealing; spectral line shift; 40 nm; 680 C; 750 C; He; He-plasma assisted epitaxy; InGaAs; InGaAsP QW laser structure; InP; InP growth; QW blocks; QW intermixing; anneal temperatures; blue-shift; gas source molecular beam epitaxy; high-frequency devices; photoluminescence; quantum well intermixing; quantum-well intermixing; rapid thermal annealing; thin InGaAs layer; Epitaxial growth; Gas lasers; Indium gallium arsenide; Indium phosphide; Integrated optoelectronics; Molecular beam epitaxial growth; Photoluminescence; Quantum well lasers; Rapid thermal annealing; Temperature;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.910453

Filename

910453