Cargando…

Microscopic View of Defect Evolution in Thermal Treated AlGaInAs Quantum Well Revealed by Spatially Resolved Cathodoluminescence

An aluminum gallium indium arsenic (AlGaInAs) material system is indispensable as the active layer of diode lasers emitting at 1310 or 1550 nm, which are used in optical fiber communications. However, the course of the high-temperature instability of a quantum well structure, which is closely relate...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Song, Yue, Zhang, Ligong, Zeng, Yugang, Qin, Li, Zhou, Yinli, Ning, Yongqiang, Wang, Lijun
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6024925/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29925827
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma11061049
_version_ 1783336165427904512
author Song, Yue
Zhang, Ligong
Zeng, Yugang
Qin, Li
Zhou, Yinli
Ning, Yongqiang
Wang, Lijun
author_facet Song, Yue
Zhang, Ligong
Zeng, Yugang
Qin, Li
Zhou, Yinli
Ning, Yongqiang
Wang, Lijun
author_sort Song, Yue
collection PubMed
description An aluminum gallium indium arsenic (AlGaInAs) material system is indispensable as the active layer of diode lasers emitting at 1310 or 1550 nm, which are used in optical fiber communications. However, the course of the high-temperature instability of a quantum well structure, which is closely related to the diffusion of indium atoms, is still not clear due to the system’s complexity. The diffusion process of indium atoms was simulated by thermal treatment, and the changes in the optical and structural properties of an AlGaInAs quantum well are investigated in this paper. Compressive strained Al(0.07)Ga(0.22)In(0.71)As quantum wells were treated at 170 °C with different heat durations. A significant decrement of photoluminescence decay time was observed on the quantum well of a sample that was annealed after 4 h. The microscopic cathodoluminescent (CL) spectra of these quantum wells were measured by scanning electron microscope-cathodoluminescence (SEM-CL). The thermal treatment effect on quantum wells was characterized via CL emission peak wavelength and energy density distribution, which were obtained by spatially resolved cathodoluminescence. The defect area was clearly observed in the Al(0.07)Ga(0.22)In(0.71)As quantum wells layer after thermal treatment. CL emissions from the defect core have higher emission energy than those from the defect-free regions. The defect core distribution, which was associated with indium segregation gradient distribution, showed asymmetric character.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-6024925
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2018
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-60249252018-07-09 Microscopic View of Defect Evolution in Thermal Treated AlGaInAs Quantum Well Revealed by Spatially Resolved Cathodoluminescence Song, Yue Zhang, Ligong Zeng, Yugang Qin, Li Zhou, Yinli Ning, Yongqiang Wang, Lijun Materials (Basel) Article An aluminum gallium indium arsenic (AlGaInAs) material system is indispensable as the active layer of diode lasers emitting at 1310 or 1550 nm, which are used in optical fiber communications. However, the course of the high-temperature instability of a quantum well structure, which is closely related to the diffusion of indium atoms, is still not clear due to the system’s complexity. The diffusion process of indium atoms was simulated by thermal treatment, and the changes in the optical and structural properties of an AlGaInAs quantum well are investigated in this paper. Compressive strained Al(0.07)Ga(0.22)In(0.71)As quantum wells were treated at 170 °C with different heat durations. A significant decrement of photoluminescence decay time was observed on the quantum well of a sample that was annealed after 4 h. The microscopic cathodoluminescent (CL) spectra of these quantum wells were measured by scanning electron microscope-cathodoluminescence (SEM-CL). The thermal treatment effect on quantum wells was characterized via CL emission peak wavelength and energy density distribution, which were obtained by spatially resolved cathodoluminescence. The defect area was clearly observed in the Al(0.07)Ga(0.22)In(0.71)As quantum wells layer after thermal treatment. CL emissions from the defect core have higher emission energy than those from the defect-free regions. The defect core distribution, which was associated with indium segregation gradient distribution, showed asymmetric character. MDPI 2018-06-20 /pmc/articles/PMC6024925/ /pubmed/29925827 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma11061049 Text en © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Song, Yue
Zhang, Ligong
Zeng, Yugang
Qin, Li
Zhou, Yinli
Ning, Yongqiang
Wang, Lijun
Microscopic View of Defect Evolution in Thermal Treated AlGaInAs Quantum Well Revealed by Spatially Resolved Cathodoluminescence
title Microscopic View of Defect Evolution in Thermal Treated AlGaInAs Quantum Well Revealed by Spatially Resolved Cathodoluminescence
title_full Microscopic View of Defect Evolution in Thermal Treated AlGaInAs Quantum Well Revealed by Spatially Resolved Cathodoluminescence
title_fullStr Microscopic View of Defect Evolution in Thermal Treated AlGaInAs Quantum Well Revealed by Spatially Resolved Cathodoluminescence
title_full_unstemmed Microscopic View of Defect Evolution in Thermal Treated AlGaInAs Quantum Well Revealed by Spatially Resolved Cathodoluminescence
title_short Microscopic View of Defect Evolution in Thermal Treated AlGaInAs Quantum Well Revealed by Spatially Resolved Cathodoluminescence
title_sort microscopic view of defect evolution in thermal treated algainas quantum well revealed by spatially resolved cathodoluminescence
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6024925/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29925827
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma11061049
work_keys_str_mv AT songyue microscopicviewofdefectevolutioninthermaltreatedalgainasquantumwellrevealedbyspatiallyresolvedcathodoluminescence
AT zhangligong microscopicviewofdefectevolutioninthermaltreatedalgainasquantumwellrevealedbyspatiallyresolvedcathodoluminescence
AT zengyugang microscopicviewofdefectevolutioninthermaltreatedalgainasquantumwellrevealedbyspatiallyresolvedcathodoluminescence
AT qinli microscopicviewofdefectevolutioninthermaltreatedalgainasquantumwellrevealedbyspatiallyresolvedcathodoluminescence
AT zhouyinli microscopicviewofdefectevolutioninthermaltreatedalgainasquantumwellrevealedbyspatiallyresolvedcathodoluminescence
AT ningyongqiang microscopicviewofdefectevolutioninthermaltreatedalgainasquantumwellrevealedbyspatiallyresolvedcathodoluminescence
AT wanglijun microscopicviewofdefectevolutioninthermaltreatedalgainasquantumwellrevealedbyspatiallyresolvedcathodoluminescence