B. V. Novikov

Transient carrier transfer in tunnel injection structures

InGaAs tunnel injection nanostructures consisting of a single quantum well as injector and a quantum dot layer as emitter are studied by time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy. The quantum dot photoluminescence undergoes substantial changes when proceeding from direct quantum dot excitation to quantum well excitation, which causes an indirect population of the dot ground states. This results in a lowered effective carrier temperature within the dots. Results on the carrier transfer versus barrier thickness are discussed within the Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin approximation. Deviations for barrier thicknesses <5nm are assigned to the formation of nanobridges that are actually detected by transmission electron microscopy.

Transient spectroscopy of InAs quantum dot molecules

Coupled pairs of InAs quantum dots are grown by molecular-beam epitaxy. Structural and optical characterization is done by means of transmission electron microscopy and photoluminescence, respectively. Photoluminescence spectra consist at least of three well-separated optical transitions that are assigned to molecular energy terms and a substantial exciton lifetime increase is observed. Detailed spectral analysis of the transient luminescence behavior indicates “intraterm” transitions that could be favorably used for the creation of midinfrared light sources.

Luminescence of mercuric iodide crystals

Low-temperature (4.2–130 K) photoluminescence spectra of HgI2 crystals have been measured in the 540–700 nm region. An analysis of the characteristics (intensity vs temperature and excitation power relations, afterglow times, excitation spectra) of the 560, 620, and 635 nm emission bands suggests the following assignments: the 560 nm band is due to radiative annihilation of excitons bound to mercury vacancies, and the “red” emission originates from recombination of free (620 nm) and donor-localized (635 nm) electrons with a hole-filled acceptor level. The energies of the corresponding donor and acceptor levels have been estimated. New emission bands at 540, 545, and 575 nm have been discovered, and their origin discussed.

Tuning of the interdot resonance in stacked InAs quantum dot arrays by an external electric field

Optoelectronic properties of vertically stacked InAs∕GaAs quantum dot (QD) arrays are analyzed. The arrays are grown by molecular beam epitaxy into the intrinsic region of GaAs p-i-n junctions. The structures are extensively characterized by transmission electron microscopy and steady-state and transient photoluminescences. The application of an external bias along growth direction is found to substantially impact the photoluminescence properties. Our results allow for establishing a semiquantitative model for the band structure of biased QD structure, which is used for a consistent interpretation of all data. In particular, we interpret the photoluminescence properties of the structures, which are fully explained by the bias tuning the energetic states of the QDs with respect to each other. Tuning through resonances between the ground states of QDs is found to substantially modify luminescence intensities as well as rise and decay times. This bias sensitivity paves the way for photonic applications of su...

Composite system based on CdSe/ZnS quantum dots and GaAs nanowires

The possibility of fabricating a composite system based on colloidal CdSe/ZnS quantum dots and GaAs nanowires is demonstrated and the structural and emission properties of this system are investigated by electron microscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy techniques. The good wettability and developed surface of the nanowire array lead to an increase in the surface density of quantum dots and, as a consequence, in the luminosity of the system in the 600-nm wavelength region. The photoluminescence spectrum of the quantum dots exhibits good temperature stability in the entire range 10–295 K. The impact of surface states on energy relaxation and the role of exciton states in radiative recombination in the quantum dots are discussed.

Recombination emission from InAs quantum dots grown on vicinal GaAs surfaces

Photoluminescence (PL) spectra of InAs/GaAs heteroepitaxial structures with quantum dots (QDs) have been studied. The structures were grown by submonolayer migration-enhanced epitaxy on vicinal substrates with the amount of deposited InAs close to the critical value of 1.8 monolayer (ML). The origin and evolution of the structure of PL spectra were studied in relation to the direction and angle of misorientation, temperature, and power density and spectrum of the exciting radiation. A blue shift and narrowing of the PL band with increasing misorientation angle was established experimentally. The fact that QDs become smaller and more uniform in size is explained in terms of a lateral confinement of QDs on terraces with account taken of the step bunching effect. The temperature dependences of the positions and full widths at half-maximum (FWHM) of PL bands are fundamentally different for isolated and associated QDs. The exciton ground states contribute to all low-temperature spectral components. The excited exciton state contributes to the recombination emission from QDs, as evidenced by the temperature dependence of the integrated intensity of the PL bands. A quantitative estimate is given of the electronic structure of different families of InAs QDs grown on GaAs substrates misoriented by 7° in the [001] direction.

Light-emitting tunneling nanostructures based on quantum dots in a Si and GaAs matrix

InGaAs/GaAs and Ge/Si light-emitting heterostructures with active regions consisting of a system of different-size nanoobjects, i.e., quantum dot layers, quantum wells, and a tunneling barrier are studied. The exchange of carriers preceding their radiative recombination is considered in the context of the tunneling interaction of nanoobjects. For the quantum well-InGaAs quantum dot layer system, an exciton tunneling mechanism is established. In such structures with a barrier thinner than 6 nm, anomalously fast carrier (exciton) transfer from the quantum well is observed. The role of the above-barrier resonance of states, which provides “instantaneous” injection into quantum dots, is considered. In Ge/Si structures, Ge quantum dots with heights comparable to the Ge/Si interface broadening are fabricated. The strong luminescence at a wavelength of 1.55 μm in such structures is explained not only by the high island-array density. The model is based on (i) an increase in the exciton oscillator strength due to the tunnel penetration of electrons into the quantum dot core at low temperatures (T < 60 K) and (ii) a redistribution of electronic states in the Δ2-Δ4 subbands as the temperature is increased to room temperature. Light-emitting diodes are fabricated based on both types of studied structures. Configuration versions of the active region are tested. It is shown that selective pumping of the injector and the tunnel transfer of “cold” carriers (excitons) are more efficient than their direct trapping by the nanoemitter.

Spectral photoresistive effect of the field in CdS crystals at low temperatures

The influence of the surface electric field on the low-temperature (T=77 K) photoconductivity spectra of CdS crystals in the region of exciton and interband transitions is experimentally studied by the field-effect method. The photoconductivity spectra of a semiconductor are numerically calculated in the framework of a model allowing for the dependence of the surface recombination rate of nonequilibrium charge carriers on the surface electric field. It is demonstrated that the surface electric field plays a decisive role in the formation of the fine spectral structure associated with the excitons. A correlation between the type of fine structure and the surface bending of the energy bands is revealed. It is shown that the surface electric field can be evaluated from the shape of the low-temperature photoconductivity spectrum of the semiconductor.

Optical spectroscopy of near-surface excitonic states

Abstract We have studied the low temperature excitonic reflectance and luminescence spectra of CdS 1− x Se x solid solutions with a near-surface excitonic potential well formed by excessive Se. The reflectance spectra were obtained at different angles of incidence for both s - and p -polarization components of light. New striking spectral features due to exciton confinement and quantization in the surface region were observed. For various samples, the generalized Morse surface potential was proved to be a good approximation in describing the experimental data. It is shown that the resonance excitonic luminescence is largely governed by the emission from excitations localized in the well.

Atomic layer deposition of CuCl nanoparticles

We report the growth of copper (I) chloride by atomic layer deposition. CuCl was deposited as nanoparticle arrays whose size and density were controlled by the process conditions. The nanoparticles were deposited using the self-limiting reaction of [bis(trimethylsilyl)acetylene]-(hexafluoroacetylacetonato)-copper(I) and hydrogen chloride. UV absorption measurements showed the characteristic Z1,2 and Z3 exciton absorption bands of CuCl. A strong UV emission was observed at 5 K from the free exciton Z3 and bound exciton I1 at 386.7 and 390.6 nm, respectively. A previously unreported visible emission band at 408 nm was also observed and attributed to the acceptor level of Cu vacancies.