The authors report a measurement of the variation of the value of the linewidth of an excitonic transition in InGaAsN alloys (1 and 2% nitrogen) as a function of hydrostatic pressure using photoluminescence spectroscopy. The samples were grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition and the photoluminescence measurements were performed a 4K. The authors find that the value of the excitonic linewidth increases as a function of pressure until about 100 kbars after which it tends to saturate. This change in the excitonic linewidth is used to derive the pressure variation of the reduced mass of the exciton using a theoretical formalism which is based on the premise that the broadening of the excitonic transition is caused primarily by compositional fluctuations in a completely disordered alloy. The variation of the excitonic reduced mass thus derived is compared with that recently determined using a first-principles band structure calculation based on local density approximation.
The variation of the value of the linewidth of an excitonic transition in InGaAsN alloys (1% and 2% nitrogen) as a function of hydrostatic pressure using photoluminescence spectroscopy is studied at 4 K. The excitonic linewidth increases as a function of pressure until about 100 kbar after which it tends to saturate. This pressure dependent excitonic linewidth is used to derive the pressure variation of the exciton reduced mass using a theoretical formalism based on the premise that the broadening of the excitonic transition is caused primarily by compositional fluctuations in a completely disordered alloy. The linewidth derived ambient pressure masses are compared and found to be in agreement with other mass measurements. The variation of this derived mass is compared with the results from a nearly first-principles approach in which calculations based on the local density approximation to the Kohn-Sham density functional theory are corrected using a small amount of experimental input.
We have designed and assembled two generations of integrated micro-optical systems that deliver pump light and detect broadband laser-induced fluorescence in micro-fluidic chemical separation systems employing electrochromatography. The goal is to maintain the sensitivity attainable with larger, tabletop machines while decreasing package size and increasing throughput (by decreasing the required chemical volume). One type of micro-optical system uses vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) as the excitation source. Light from the VCSELs is relayed with four-level surface relief diffractive optical elements (DOEs) and delivered to the chemical volume through substrate-mode propagation. Indirect fluorescence from dye-quenched chemical species is collected and collimated with a high numerical aperture DOE. A filter blocks the excitation wavelength, and the resulting signal is detected as the chemical separation proceeds. Variations of this original design include changing the combination of reflective and transmissive DOEs and optimizing the high numerical aperture DOE with a rotationally symmetric iterative discrete on-axis algorithm. We will discuss the results of these implemented optimizations.
Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) which operate in multiple transverse optical modes have been rapidly adopted into present data communication applications which rely on multi-mode optical fiber. However, operation only in the fundamental mode is required for free space interconnects and numerous other emerging VCSEL applications. Two device design strategies for obtaining single mode lasing in VCSELs based on mode selective loss or mode selective gain are reviewed and compared. Mode discrimination is attained with the use of a thick tapered oxide aperture positioned at a longitudinal field null. Mode selective gain is achieved by defining a gain aperture within the VCSEL active region to preferentially support the fundamental mode. VCSELs which exhibit greater than 3 mW of single mode output power at 850 nm with mode suppression ratio greater than 30 dB are reported.
The authors have developed diode lasers for short pulse duration and high peak pulse power in the 0.01--100.0 m pulsewidth regime. A primary goal of the program was producing up to 10 W while maintaining good far-field beam quality and ease of manufacturability for low cost. High peak power, 17 W, picosecond pulses have been achieved by gain switching of flared geometry waveguide lasers and amplifiers. Such high powers area world record for this type of diode laser. The light emission pattern from diode lasers is of critical importance for sensing systems such as range finding and chemical detection. They have developed a new integrated optical beam transformer producing rib-waveguide diode lasers with a symmetric, low divergence, output beam and increased upper power limits for irreversible facet damage.
We demonstrate for the first time anti-guided coupling of two adjacent vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL's), obtaining a 1-by-2 phase-locked array at 869 nm. The lateral index modification required for anti-guiding is achieved by a patterned 3-rim etch performed between two epitaxial growths. In contrast with prior evanescently coupled VCSEL's, adjacent anti-guided VCSEL's can emit in-phase and produce a single on-axis lobe in the far field. Greater than 2 mW of in-phase output power is demonstrated with two VCSEL's separated by 8 {micro}m. Moreover, phase locking of two VCSEL's separated by 20 {micro}m is observed, indicating the possibility of a new class of optical circuits based upon VCSEL's that interact horizontally and emit vertically.
The authors describe the design and microfabrication of an extremely compact optical system as a key element in an integrated capillary-channel electrochromatograph with laser induced fluorescence detection. The optical design uses substrate-mode propagation within the fused silica substrate. The optical system includes a vertical cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) array, two high performance microlenses and a commercial photodetector. The microlenses are multilevel diffractive optics patterned by electron beam lithography and etched by reactive ion etching in fused silica. Two generations of optical subsystems are described. The first generation design is integrated directly onto the capillary channel-containing substrate with a 6 mm separation between the VCSEL and photodetector. The second generation design separates the optical system onto its own module and the source to detector length is further compressed to 3.5 mm. The systems are designed for indirect fluorescence detection using infrared dyes. The first generation design has been tested with a 750 nm VCSEL exciting a 10{sup -4} M solution of CY-7 dye. The observed signal-to-noise ratio of better than 100:1 demonstrates that the background signal from scattered pump light is low despite the compact size of the optical system and meets the system sensitivity requirements.
InGaAsN alloys are a promising material for increasing the efficiency of multi-junction solar cells now used for satellite power systems. However, the growth of these dilute N containing alloys has been challenging with further improvements in material quality needed before the solar cell higher efficiencies are realized. Nitrogen/V ratios exceeding 0.981 resulted in lower N incorporation and poor surface morphologies. The growth rate was found to depend on not only the total group III transport for a fixed N/V ratio but also on the N/V ratio. Carbon tetrachloride and dimethylzinc were effective for p-type doping. Disilane was not an effective n-type dopant while SiCl4 did result in n-type material but only a narrow range of electron concentrations (2-5e17cm{sup -3}) were achieved.
This report represents the completion of a 6 month Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program that focused on research and development of novel compound semiconductor, InGaAsN. This project seeks to rapidly assess the potential of InGaAsN for improved high-efficiency photovoltaic. Due to the short time scale, the project focused on quickly investigating the range of attainable compositions and bandgaps while identifying possible material limitations for photovoltaic devices. InGaAsN is a new semiconductor alloy system with the remarkable property that the inclusion of only 2% nitrogen reduces the bandgap by more than 30%. In order to help understand the physical origin of this extreme deviation from the typically observed nearly linear dependence of alloy properties on concentration, we have investigated the pressure dependence of the excited state energies using both experimental and theoretical methods. We report measurements of the low temperature photoluminescence energy of the material for pressures between ambient and 110 kbar. We describe a simple, density-functional-theory-based approach to calculating the pressure dependence of low lying excitation energies for low concentration alloys. The theoretically predicted pressure dependence of the bandgap is in excellent agreement with the experimental data. Based on the results of our calculations, we suggest an explanation for the strongly non-linear pressure dependence of the bandgap that, surprisingly, does not involve a nitrogen impurity band. Additionally, conduction-band mass measurements, measured by three different techniques, will be described and finally, the magnetoluminescence determined pressure coefficient for the conduction-band mass is measured. The design, growth by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition, and processing of an In{sub 0.07}Ga{sub 0.93}As{sub 0.98}N{sub 0.02} solar cell, with 1.0 eV bandgap, lattice matched to GaAs is described. The hole diffusion length in annealed, n-type InGaAsN is 0.6-0.8 pm, and solar cell internal quantum efficiencies >70% are obtained. Optical studies indicate that defects or impurities, from doping and nitrogen incorporation, limit cell performance.
Deep level defects in MOCVD-grown, unintentionally doped p-type InGaAsN films lattice matched to GaAs were investigated using deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements. As-grown p-InGaAsN showed broad DLTS spectra suggesting that there exists a broad distribution of defect states within the band-gap. Moreover, the trap densities exceeded 10{sup 15} cm{sup {minus}3}. Cross sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements showed no evidence for threading dislocations within the TEM resolution limit of 10{sup 7} cm{sup {minus}2}. A set of samples was annealed after growth for 1800 seconds at 650 C to investigate the thermal stability of the traps. The DLTS spectra of the annealed samples simplified considerably, revealing three distinct hole trap levels with energy levels of 0.10 eV, 0.23 eV, and 0.48 eV above the valence band edge with trap concentrations of 3.5 x 10{sup 14} cm{sup {minus}3}, 3.8 x 10{sup 14} cm {sup {minus}3}, and 8.2 x 10{sup 14} cm{sup {minus}3}, respectively. Comparison of as-grown and annealed DLTS spectra showed that post-growth annealing effectively reduced the total trap concentration by an order of magnitude across the bandgap. However, the concentration of a trap with an energy level of 0.48 eV was not affected by annealing indicating a higher thermal stability for this trap as compared with the overall distribution of shallow and deep traps.
Deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements were utilized to investigate deep level defects in metal-organic chemical deposition (MOCVD)-grown unintentionally doped p-type InGaAsN films lattice matched to GaAs. The as-grown material displayed a high concentration of deep levels distributed within the bandgap, with a dominant hole trap at E{sub v} + 0.10 eV. Post-growth annealing simplified the deep level spectra, enabling the identification of three distinct hole traps at 0.10 eV, 0.23 eV, and 0.48 eV above the valence band edge, with concentrations of 3.5 x 10{sup 14} cm{sup {minus}3}, 3.8 x 10{sup 14} cm{sup {minus}3}, and 8.2 x 10{sup 14} cm{sup {minus}3}, respectively. A direct comparison between the as-grown and annealed spectra revealed the presence of an additional midgap hole trap, with a concentration of 4 x 10{sup 14} cm{sup {minus}3} in the as-grown material. The concentration of this trap is sharply reduced by annealing, which correlates with improved material quality and minority carrier properties after annealing. Of the four hole traps detected, only the 0.48 eV level is not influenced by annealing, suggesting this level may be important for processed InGaAsN devices in the future.
Mid-infrared (3-6 μm) LED's are being developed for use in chemical sensor systems. As-rich, InAsSb heterostructures are particularly suited for optical emitters in the mid-infrared region. We are investigating both InAsSb-InAs multiple quantum well (MQW) and InAsSb-InAsP strained layer superlattice (SLS) structures for use as the active region for light emitting diodes (LED's). The addition of phosphorus to the InAs barriers increases the light and heavy hole splitting and hence reduces non-radiative Auger recombination and provides for better electron and hole confinement in the InAsSb quantum well. Low temperature (<20 K) photoluminescence (PL) emission from MQW structures is observed between 3.2 to 6.0 μm for InAsSb wells between 70 to 100 Å and antimony mole fractions between 0.04 to 0.18. Room temperature PL has been observed to 6.4 μm in MQW structures. The additional confinement by InAsP barriers results in low temperature PL being observed over a narrower range (3.2 to 5.0 μm) for the similar well thicknesses with antimony mole fractions between 0.10 to 0.24. Room temperature photoluminescence was observed to 5.8 μm in SLS structures. The addition of a p-AlAsSb layer between the n-type active region (MQW or SLS) and a p-GaAsSb contact layer improves electron confinement of the active region and increases output power by a factor of 4. Simple LED emitters have been fabricated which exhibit an average power at room temperature of >100 μW at 4.0 μm for SLS active regions. These LED's have been used to detect CO2 concentrations down to 24 ppm in a first generation, non-cryogenic sensor system. We will report on the development of novel LED device designs that are expected to lead to further improvements in output power.
The authors have demonstrated room-temperature CW operation of type-II quantum cascade (QC) light emitting diodes at 4.2 {micro}m using InAs/InGaSb/InAlSb type-II quantum wells. The type-II QC configuration utilizes sequential multiple photon emissions in a staircase of coupled type-II quantum wells. The device was grown by molecular beam epitaxy on a p-type GaSb substrate and was compared of 20 periods of active regions separated by digitally graded quantum well injection regions. The maximum average output power is about 250 {micro}W at 80 K, and 140 {micro}W at 300 K at a repetition rate of 1 kHz with a duty cycle of 50%.