Y. Tsai

Mn(2+)-Doped CdSe/CdS Core/Multishell Colloidal Quantum Wells Enabling Tunable Carrier-Dopant Exchange Interactions.

In this work, we report the manifestations of carrier-dopant exchange interactions in colloidal Mn(2+)-doped CdSe/CdS core/multishell quantum wells. The carrier-magnetic ion exchange interaction effects are tunable through wave function engineering. In our quantum well heterostructures, manganese was incorporated by growing a Cd0.985Mn0.015S monolayer shell on undoped CdSe nanoplatelets using the colloidal atomic layer deposition technique. Unlike previously synthesized Mn(2+)-doped colloidal nanostructures, the location of the Mn ions was controlled with atomic layer precision in our heterostructures. This is realized by controlling the spatial overlap between the carrier wave functions with the manganese ions by adjusting the location, composition, and number of the CdSe, Cd1-xMnxS, and CdS layers. The photoluminescence quantum yield of our magnetic heterostructures was found to be as high as 20% at room temperature with a narrow photoluminescence bandwidth of ∼22 nm. Our colloidal quantum wells, which exhibit magneto-optical properties analogous to those of epitaxially grown quantum wells, offer new opportunities for solution-processed spin-based semiconductor devices.

Probing the nature of carrier localization in GaInNAs epilayers by optical methods

Photoluminescence (PL), optical pumping, and reflectance studies of nominally undoped and p-type GaInNAs epilayers are presented. The PL peak energy of the nominally undoped sample exhibits an S-shaped dependence on temperature for T < 50 K. This is attributed to recombination of bound excitons localized on traps. The energy of the PL circular-polarization maximum coincides with the energy of the free-exciton related reflectance feature at all temperatures. In heavily p-type samples the S-shaped temperature-dependence of the PL energy disappears, and the PL peak and circular polarization maximum coincide with the reflectance feature at all temperatures, indicating that the PL is free-exciton-like.

Time-resolved magnetophotoluminescence studies of magnetic polaron dynamics in type-II quantum dots

We used continuous wave photoluminescence (cw-PL) and time resolved photoluminescence (TR-PL) spectroscopy to compare the properties of magnetic polarons (MP) in two related spatially indirect II-VI epitaxially grown quantum dot systems. In the ZnTe/(Zn,Mn)Se system the holes are confined in the non-magnetic ZnTe quantum dots (QDs), and the electrons reside in the magnetic (Zn,Mn)Se matrix. On the other hand, in the (Zn,Mn)Te/ZnSe system, the holes are confined in the magnetic (Zn,Mn)Te QDs, while the electrons remain in the surrounding non-magnetic ZnSe matrix. The magnetic polaron formation energies in both systems were measured from the temporal red-shift of the band-edge emission. The magnetic polaron exhibits distinct characteristics depending on the location of the Mn ions. In the ZnTe/(Zn,Mn)Se system the magnetic polaron shows conventional behavior with decreasing with increasing temperature T and increasing magnetic field B. In contrast, in the (Zn,Mn)Te/ZnSe system has unconventional dependence on temperature T and magnetic field B; is weakly dependent on T as well as on B. We discuss a possible origin for such a striking difference in the MP properties in two closely related QD systems.

Photoluminescence study of Be-acceptors in GaInNAs epilayers

We have studied Be-acceptors in a p-type GaInNAs epilayer using magneto-luminescence spectroscopy. The band edge photoluminescence (PL) spectra at T = 7 K contain two features: the first is associated with the free exciton while the second with the conduction band to acceptor (CB  →  A) transition. The intensity of the latter decreases with increasing temperature while the excitonic feature survives up to T = 250 K. From the energies of the two PL features, as well as the exciton binding energy in GaInNAs, we determined the Be-acceptor binding energy to be equal to 42 meV. The energy of the CB  →  A feature varies linearly with magnetic field B and has a slope of 5.5×10−4 eV/T.

Conventional versus unconventional magnetic polarons: ZnMnTe/ZnSe and ZnTe/ZnMnSe quantum dots

We used time resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) spectroscopy to compare the properties of magnetic polarons in two related, spatially indirect, II-VI epitaxially grown quantum dot systems. In sample A (ZnMnTe/ZnSe), the photoexcited holes are confined in the magnetic ZnMnTe quantum dots (QDs), while the electrons remain in the surrounding non-magnetic ZnSe matrix. In sample B (ZnTe/ZnMnSe) on the other hand, the holes are confined in the non-magnetic ZnTe QDs and the electrons move in the magnetic ZnMnSe matrix. The magnetic polaron formation energies, EMP , in these samples were measured from the temporal red-shift of the excitonic emission peak. The magnetic polarons in the two samples exhibit distinct characteristics. In sample A, the magnetic polaron is strongly bound with EMP=35 meV. Furthermore, EMP has unconventionally weak dependence of on both temperature T and magnetic field Bappl . In contrast, magnetic polarons in sample B show conventional characteristics with EMP decreasing with increasing temperature and increasing external magnetic field. We attribute the difference in magnetic polaron properties between the two types of QDs to the difference in the location of the Mn ions in the respective structures.