L. Nattermann

Electrical injection Ga(AsBi)/(AlGa)As single quantum well laser

The Ga(AsBi) material system opens opportunities in the field of high efficiency infrared laser diodes. We report on the growth, structural investigations, and lasing properties of dilute bismide Ga(AsBi)/(AlGa)As single quantum well lasers with 2.2% Bi grown by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy on GaAs (001) substrates. Electrically injected laser operation at room temperature is achieved with a threshold current density of 1.56 kA/cm2 at an emission wavelength of ∼947 nm. These results from broad area devices show great promise for developing efficient IR laser diodes based on this emerging materials system.

Physical properties and optimization of GaBiAs/(Al)GaAs based near-infrared laser diodes grown by MOVPE with up to 4.4% Bi

This paper reports on progress in the development of GaAsBi/(Al)GaAs based lasers grown using metal-organic vapour phase epitaxy and focuses on the underlying processes governing their efficiency and temperature dependence. Room temperature lasing has been achieved in devices with 2.2% Bi and lasing in devices with 4.4% Bi was observed up to 180 K. We show that the device performance can be improved by optimizing both electrical and optical confinement in the laser structures. Analysis of the temperature dependence of the threshold current together with pure spontaneous emission and high hydrostatic pressure measurements indicate that device performance is currently dominated by non-radiative recombination through defects (>80% of the threshold current at room temperature in 2.2% Bi samples) and that to further improve the device performance and move towards longer wavelengths for optical telecommunications (1.3–1.5 µm) further effort is required to improve and optimize material quality.

MOVPE growth mechanisms of dilute bismide III/V alloys

This paper summarizes the present understanding of the growth of Ga(AsBi) on GaAs substrates using metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). A growth model including Bi segregation is developed and the influence of several growth parameters, such as the applied growth temperature, the growth rate and the partial pressures of the precursors, are investigated in detail. Also, effects, beyond pure source decomposition, of the low growth temperature needed for the deposition of the highly metastable material system are summarized. Optimizing the growth conditions enables the deposition of Ga(AsBi) layers with more than 7% Bi that show strong room temperature photoluminescence without the necessity of annealing. Bi acts as a surfactant during the growth that reduces the defect density and unintentional carbon doping of the crystals. Besides using the established Bi precursor trimethylbismuth (TMBi), the growth of Ga(AsBi) with alternative Bi precursors tritertiarybutylbismuth (TTBBi) and triisopropylbismuth (TIPBi) is discussed. Furthermore, first results on Ga(AsBi) containing an electrically pumped single quantum well laser grown with MOVPE are presented. These devices might enable high efficiency infrared laser devices in future.

An experimental approach for real time mass spectrometric CVD gas phase investigations

This is a report on the first setup of a recently developed, extremely sensitive and very fast 3D quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer inline in a metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy (MOVPE) system. This setup was developed ultimately for the decomposition- and the interaction analysis of various established as well as novel metalorganic sources for MOVPE deposition of III/V semiconductors. To make in-situ gas phase and growth interaction analysis on a new level of sensitivity possible without disturbing the MOVPE growth process itself, an optimized experimental connection of the mass spectrometer to the MOVPE system is required. This work reports on the realization of such an experimental setup and provides first proof of concept for decomposition analysis. In addition, a comparison to previous studies and gas-phase analysis at MOVPE systems will be given in this work.

Optical functions and critical points of dilute bismide alloys studied by spectroscopic ellipsometry

Critical point transition energies and optical functions of the novel GaAs-based dilute bismide alloys GaAsBi, GaNAsBi, and GaPAsBi were determined using spectroscopic ellipsometry. The ellipsometry data were analyzed using a parameterized semiconductor model to represent the dielectric function of the alloys as the sum of Gaussian oscillators centered on critical points in the band structure, and from this extracting the energies of those critical points. The band gap and spin-orbit splitting were measured for samples for a range of alloy compositions. The first experimental measurements of the spin-orbit splitting in the GaNAsBi quaternary alloy were obtained, which showed that it is approximately independent of N content, in agreement with theory. The real component of the refractive index in the transparent region below the band gap was found to decrease as the band gap increased for all of the alloys studied, following the usual relations for conventional semiconductors. This work provides key electr...

Structural and electronic properties of isovalent boron atoms in GaAs

Boron containing GaAs, which is grown by metal organic vapour phase epitaxy, is studied at the atomic level by cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy (X-STM) and spectroscopy (STS). In topographic X-STM images, three classes of B related features are identified, which are attributed to individual B atoms on substitutional Ga sites down to the second layer below the natural {110} cleavage planes. The X-STM contrast of B atoms below the surface reflects primarily the structural modification of the GaAs matrix by the small B atoms. However, B atoms in the cleavage plane have in contrast to conventional isovalent impurities, such as Al and In, a strong influence on the local electronic structure similar to donors or acceptors. STS measurements show that B in the GaAs {110} surfaces gives rise to a localized state short below the conduction band (CB) edge while in bulk GaAs, the B impurity state is resonant with the CB. The analysis of BxGa1–xAs/GaAs quantum wells reveals a good crystal quality and show...

1 eV Ga(NAsSb) grown by MOVPE using di-tertiary-butyl-arsano-amine (DTBAA)

N containing lattice matched 1 eV materials, such as Ga(NAsSb) and (GaIn)(NAs), are discussed as potential solar subcells in a four junction solar cell alongside Ge, GaAs, and (GaIn)P, reaching theoretically conversion efficiencies of around 50 %. The solar subcell with the highest conversion efficiency, consisting of (GaIn)(NAsSb), was grown with molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The growth of Sb/N containing materials have always been a challenge to metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE), as N incorporation is hindered drastically by even small amounts of Sb if 1,1-dimethylhydrazine is used. This strong N/Sb interaction was not observed by MBE, therefore gas phase reactions in MOVPE are held responsible for the N incorporation drop. In this work we will present a systematic study of Ga(NAsSb) on GaAs grown in MOVPE with the novel N/As precursor di-tertiary-butyl-arsano-amine, as well as triethylgallium and triethylantimony. The achieved 1 eV Ga(NAsSb) material opens up new possibilities for using MOVPE to grow further solar subcells like (GaIn)(NAsSb) or Ga(NAsSb) in the band gap range of 1.0 – 1.1 eV.N containing lattice matched 1 eV materials, such as Ga(NAsSb) and (GaIn)(NAs), are discussed as potential solar subcells in a four junction solar cell alongside Ge, GaAs, and (GaIn)P, reaching theoretically conversion efficiencies of around 50 %. The solar subcell with the highest conversion efficiency, consisting of (GaIn)(NAsSb), was grown with molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The growth of Sb/N containing materials have always been a challenge to metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE), as N incorporation is hindered drastically by even small amounts of Sb if 1,1-dimethylhydrazine is used. This strong N/Sb interaction was not observed by MBE, therefore gas phase reactions in MOVPE are held responsible for the N incorporation drop. In this work we will present a systematic study of Ga(NAsSb) on GaAs grown in MOVPE with the novel N/As precursor di-tertiary-butyl-arsano-amine, as well as triethylgallium and triethylantimony. The achieved 1 eV Ga(NAsSb) material opens up new possibilities for using MOVPE to...