V. V. Chaldyshev

Elastic-energy relaxation in heterostructures with strained nanoinclusions

Elastic-energy relaxation in systems with nanoinclusions is considered. The relaxation is related to the formation of the following dislocation loops: a single misfit dislocation loop or a group of such loops on the matrix-nanoinclusion interface and/or a satellite dislocation loop near the inclusion. The critical inclusion sizes beginning from which misfit dislocation loops and satellite dislocation loops can nucleate are determined for various models of relaxation processes. The dependences of the satellite-dislocation-loop diameter on the inclusion size are calculated and compared with experimental data.

Special Frequencies in the Optical Reflectance Spectra of Resonant Bragg Structures

The optical reflectance spectra of resonant Bragg quantum-well structures are studied theoretically. The existence of two special frequencies in the spectra at which the reflectance depends only weakly on the number of quantum wells in the structure is explained analytically. The effect of nonradiative exciton damping on the reflectance spectra in the vicinity of the special frequencies is analyzed. It is shown that the inclusion of the dielectric contrast leads to the appearance of a third special frequency, at which the contributions to the reflectance due to the dielectric contrast and exciton resonance completely cancel each other.

Elastic behavior of a spherical inclusion with a given uniaxial dilatation

The elastic behavior of a spherical inclusion with a uniaxial dilatation is considered. As an example, the experimental data on stressed nanoclusters in doped semiconductors (As-Sb clusters in GaAs) are presented. The fields of displacements, elastic strains, and stresses are determined for spherical inclusions with uniaxial dilatation, and the specific features of these fields are revealed. The elastic energy of a uniaxial spheroid is calculated and compared with that for a triaxial spheroid. The relaxation mechanisms for the elastic field of the inclusion associated with the formation of prismatic dislocation loops are considered.

Fröhlich Resonance in the AsSb/AlGaAs System

The optical absorption in a metal-semiconductor metamaterial based on the AlGaAs matrix has been investigated. The key feature of this material is the presence of random arrays of metallic AsSb nanoinclusions modifying its dielectric properties. It has been shown that the presence of such arrays in the material leads to resonance absorption of light by surface plasmons in AsSb nanoinclusions in the incident photon energy range from 1.37 to 1.77 eV. The experimental spectrum of the extinction coefficient at an energy of 1.48 eV exhibits a resonance peak with the half-width equal to 0.18 eV. The extinction coefficient for AsSb nanoinclusions in the AlGaAs matrix has been calculated in terms of the Mie theory. The calculated spectrum of the extinction coefficient also includes a resonance peak with the energy and half-width equal to 1.48 and 0.18 eV, respectively. The calculated plasma energy for free-standing nanoinclusions in vacuum is 7.38 eV.

Resonance Bragg structure with double InGaN quantum wells

The effect of exciton-polariton resonance on the optical properties of periodic heterostructures with double InGaN quantum wells in a GaN matrix has been studied. It has been found that the light reflection is amplified at the frequency corresponding to the exciton energy when it coincides with the frequency of the Bragg resonance. This effect is observed to be twice as large as that in a similar system of single quantum wells.

Elastic fields and physical properties of surface quantum dots

Elastic fields in a system consisting of a surface coherent axisymmetric quantum dot-island on a massive substrate have been theoretically studied using the finite element method. An analysis of the influence of the quantum dot shape (form factor) and relative size (aspect ratio) δ on the accompanying elastic fields has revealed two critical quantum dot dimensions, δc1 and δc2. For δ > δc1, the fields are independent of the quantum dot shape and aspect ratio. At δ ≥ δc2, the quantum dot top remains almost undistorted. Variation of the stress tensor component σzz (z is the quantum dot axis of symmetry) reveals a region of tensile stresses, which is located in the substrate under the quantum dot at a particular distance from the interface. Using an approximate analytical formula for the radial component of displacements, model electron microscopy images have been calculated for quantum dot islands with δ > δc1 in the InSb/InAs system. The possibility of stress relaxation occurring in the system via the formation of a prismatic interstitial dislocation loop has been considered.

Plasmon resonance in new AsSb–AlGaAs metal–semiconductor metamaterials

Optical extinction in a metal–semiconductor metamaterial based on a AlGaAs matrix, which contains random arrays of AsSb plasmon nanoinclusions, is studied. The metamaterial is grown by molecular beam epitaxy at a low temperature. A system of nanoinclusions of various sizes is formed by annealing at temperatures 400, 500, and 600°C. Investigation of the sample’s microstructure by transmission electron microscopy shows that the average size of nanoinclusions at the used annealing temperatures is 4–7, 5–8, and 6–9 nm, respectively. It is shown experimentally that AsSb nanoparticle arrays in the AlGaAs matrix cause the resonant absorption of light. It is established that the plasmon-resonance parameters found in the metamaterial are almost independent of the sizes of the AsSb nanoinclusions. The plasmon-resonance energy is (1.47 ± 0.01) eV, while its full width at half maximum is (0.19 ± 0.01) eV.

Effect of a low-temperature-grown GaAs layer on InAs quantum-dot photoluminescence

The photoluminescence of InAs semiconductor quantum dots overgrown by GaAs in the low-temperature mode (LT-GaAs) using various spacer layers or without them is studied. Spacer layers are thin GaAs or AlAs layers grown at temperatures normal for molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE). Direct overgrowth leads to photoluminescence disappearance. When using a thin GaAs spacer layer, the photoluminescence from InAs quantum dots is partially recovered; however, its intensity appears lower by two orders of magnitude than in the reference sample in which the quantum-dot array is overgrown at normal temperature. The use of wider-gap AlAs as a spacer-layer material leads to the enhancement of photoluminescence from InAs quantum dots, but it is still more than ten times lower than that of reference-sample emission. A model taking into account carrier generation by light, diffusion and tunneling from quantum dots to the LT-GaAs layer is constructed.

Study of multiple InAs/GaAs quantum-well structures by electroreflectance spectroscopy

A periodic Bragg heterostructure with three ultrathin InAs/GaAs quantum wells in a period is fabricated and studied. The splitting energy of exciton transitions in quantum wells is determined by the electroreflectance- spectroscopy method and numerical quantum-mechanical calculation. The significant influence of interference effects on individual peak areas in the electroreflectance spectrum is detected.

Effect of local structural defects on the precipitation of as in the vicinity of InAs quantum dots in a GaAs matrix

Electron-microscopy studies of GaAs structures grown by the method of molecular-beam epitaxy and containing arrays of semiconductor InAs quantum dots and metallic As quantum dots are performed. An array of InAs quantum dots is formed using the Stranski-Krastanow mechanism and consists of five layers of vertically conjugated quantum dots divided by a 5-nm-thick GaAs spacer layer. The array of As quantum dots is formed in an As-enriched GaAs layer grown at a low temperature above an array of InAs quantum dots using postgrowth annealing at temperatures of 400–600°C for 15 min. It is found that, during the course of structure growth near the InAs quantum dots, misfit defects are formed; these defects are represented by 60° or edge dislocations located in the heterointerface plane of the semiconductor quantum dots and penetrating to the surface through a layer of “low-temperature” GaAs. The presence of such structural defects leads to the formation of As quantum dots in the vicinity of the middle of the InAs conjugated quantum dots beyond the layer of “low-temperature” GaAs.