P. S. S. Guimarães

Control of polarization and mode mapping of small volume high Q micropillars

We show that the polarization of the emission of a single quantum dot embedded within a microcavity pillar of elliptical cross section can be completely controlled and even switched between two orthogonal linear polarizations by changing the coupling of the dot emission with the polarized photonic modes. We also measure the spatial profile of the emission of a series of pillars with different ellipticities and show that the results can be well described by simple theoretical modeling of the modes of an infinite length elliptical cylinder.

Quantum dot structures grown on Al containing quaternary material for infrared photodetection beyond 10μm

Different InAs quantum dot structures grown on InGaAlAs lattice matched to InP were investigated for quantum dot infrared photodetectors. Extremely narrow photocurrent peaks were observed, demonstrating great potential for fine wavelength selection. Structures which can detect radiation beyond 10μm were developed. Polarization dependence measurements showed that the structures have a zero-dimensional character and are suitable for detection of normal incident light. On the other hand, structures containing coupled quantum wells showed a hybrid two-dimensional/zero-dimensional behavior.

The effect of potential fluctuations on the optical properties of InGaAs∕InAlAs superlattices

Photoluminescence (PL) measurements as a function of temperature and excitation intensity were carried out in a sample containing two InGaAs∕InAlAs superlattices, grown on the same InP substrate, with quantum wells and barriers of different widths. The fluctuations in the confinement potential for excitons in both structures are investigated by following the blueshift of the PL peaks with increasing temperature as well as with rising excitation intensity, at low temperatures. A decrease in the full width at half maximum of the PL peaks with increasing excitation power was also observed. The change in the PL linewidth with excitation power is interpreted in terms of the variation of the relative contribution of the excitons localized at the excitonic band tail (due to the potential fluctuations) and of the nonlocalized excitons. Moreover, the activation energies of the nonradiative channels responsible for the thermal quenching of the photoluminescence peaks are deduced from an Arrhenius plot of the integr...

Asymmetry tuning of Fano resonances in GaAs photonic crystal cavities

We investigate the reflectivity spectra of photonic crystal cavities using the polarization of the incoming exciting light to tune the Fano interference between the radiation reflected by the polarized cavity mode and the light scattered by the photonic crystal pattern. The reflectivity is controlled by the polarization of the incident radiation, with the change from symmetrical to asymmetrical lineshapes well described by the Fano resonance formula. We use the scattering matrix formalism to obtain the reflectivity lineshapes by relating the electromagnetic field incident on the cavity to the radiation that is reflected in qualitative good agreement with the experimental results.

Intraband Auger effect in InAs∕InGaAlAs∕InP quantum dot structures

InAs quantum dot structures grown on InGaAlAs have been investigated for midinfrared photodetection. Intraband photocurrent and absorption measurements, together with a full three-dimensional theoretical modeling revealed that a bound-to-bound optical transition, where the final state is about 200meV deep below the conduction band continuum, is responsible for the photogenerated current. The reported results strongly suggest that an Auger process plays a fundamental role in generating the observed intraband photocurrent. Photoluminescence and interband photocurrent spectra of the same structures further support the reached conclusions.

Dependence of the vibronic emission on self-absorption and reemission processes in conjugated polymers

Photoluminescence spectra from the edge of thin films of a conjugated polymer were obtained by varying the self-absorption level at different temperatures. This technique together with the use of a Franck-Condon analysis enabled a clear identification of the vibrational relaxation processes, providing a way to recognize the participating vibrational modes. The higher order vibronic bands were observed to shift to lower energies than those predicted theoretically. This was interpreted as an effect of self-absorption processes, which lead to the loss of energy by intramolecular interactions due to the increase of thermal disorder.

Modeling of Fano resonances in the reflectivity of photonic crystal cavities with finite spot size excitation.

We study the reflectivity spectra of photonic crystal slab cavities using an extension of the scattering matrix method that allows treating finite sizes of the spot of the excitation beam. The details of the implementation of the method are presented and then we show that Fano resonances arise as a consequence of the electromagnetic interference between the discrete contribution of the fundamental cavity mode and the continuum contribution of the light scattered by the photonic crystal pattern. We control the asymmetry lineshape of the Fano resonance through the polarization of the incident field, which determines the relative phase between the two electromagnetic contributions to the interference. We analyse the electric field profile inside and outside of the crystal to help in the understanding of the dependence on polarization of the reflectivity lineshape. We also study with our implementation the dependence of the Fano resonances on the size of the incident radiation spot.

Blends of poly[2-(2′,5′-bis(2′-ethyl-hexyloxy)phenyl)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] and poly(3-hexylthiophene) as base materials for broad band light emission devices

Photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence (EL) emission from blended films composed by poly[2-(2′,5′-bis(2′-ethyl-hexyloxy)phenyl)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (BEHP-PPV) and poly(3- hexylthiophene) (P3HT) conjugated polymers with different relative concentrations are investigated. The main changes observed on the PL spectra of the blended films with temperature and excitation power are associated to an increase of the emission efficiency of the P3HT constituent. The EL spectrum of a light emission device (LED) fabricated with the BEHP-PPV:P3HT blend presents a similar broad emission as in the PL measurement but shifted to higher wavelengths. The blended LEDs show a significantly higher emission efficiency than the LEDs made with the pure constituents. The apparent color of the blended LED shifts to a purer red as the applied voltage is increased. This tuning capacity was interpreted as due to a change in the effective gap of the blend caused by the redistribution of injected carriers in the BEHP-PPV:P3HT ...

Simultaneous positive and negative photocurrent response in asymmetric quantum dot infrared photodetectors

We study the influence on the photocurrent of the final state in bound-to-quasibound transitions in self-assembled quantum dot infrared photodetectors. We investigate two structures designed to explore different mechanisms of carrier extraction and therefore achieve a better insight on these processes. We observe photocurrent in opposite directions, with positive and negative sign, for different incident frequencies at the same applied external electric field. This phenomenon is attributed to the asymmetry of the potential barriers surrounding the quantum dots.

Current bistability in a weakly coupled multi-quantum well structure: a magnetic field induced 'memory effect'

A study of magnetotunnelling in weakly coupled multi-quantum wells reveals a new phenomenon which constitutes a kind of memory effect in the sense that the electrical resistance of the sample after application of the magnetic field is different from before and contains the information that a magnetic field was applied previously. The change in the electric field domain configuration triggered by the magnetic field was compared for two samples, one strictly periodic and another with a thicker quantum well inserted into the periodic structure. For applied biases at which two electric field domains are present in the sample, as the magnetic field is increased a succession of discontinuous reductions in the electrical resistance is observed due to the magnetic field-induced rearrangement of the electric field domains, i.e. the domain boundary jumps from well to well as the magnetic field is changed. The memory effect is revealed for the aperiodic structure as the electric field domain configuration triggered by the magnetic field remains stable after the field is reduced back to zero. This effect is related to the multi-stability in the current–voltage characteristics observed in some weakly coupled multi-quantum well structures.