Ray LaPierre’s research while affiliated with McMaster University and other places

Dense arrays of semiconductor quantum dots are currently employed in highly efficient quantum dot lasers for data communications and other applications. Traditionally, the electronic properties of such quantum nanostructures have been treated as isolated objects, with the degree of hybridization between neighboring quantum dots and the wetting layer left unexplored. Here, we use atom probe tomography and transmission electron microscopy to uncover the three-dimensional composition profile of a high-density ensemble of epitaxial InAs/GaAs quantum dots. The sub-nanometer compositional data is used to construct the 3D local band structure and simulate the electronic eigenstates within the dense quantum dot ensemble using finite element method. This in situ electronic simulation reveals a high degree of hybridization between neighboring quantum dots and the wetting layer, in stark contrast to the usual picture of isolated quantum nanostructures. The simulated transition energies are compared with low temperature photoluminescence. This work has important applications for quantum dot laser design and paves the way to engineering ensemble effects in quantum dot lasers and other quantum nanostructures.

Ridge microstructures were prepared by etching through samples consisting of a series of stacked InAs xP 1 − x quantum wells (QWs) with step graded composition grown on InP by molecular beam epitaxy. Different etching techniques were used: wet etching with HCl/H 2O and reactive ion etching with CH 4/H 2. These microstructures were characterized by low-temperature micro-photoluminescence. The photoluminescence (PL) emission associated with each QW was clearly identified. The PL was measured in detail across etched ridge stripes of various widths. Variations of the integrated PL intensities across the etched stripes were observed. The PL intensities for all QWs increase gradually from the edge to the center of the ridge microstructures. The PL intensity measured at the ridge center is systematically reduced for ridges which are 10 or 20 μm wide as compared to ridges which are 30 μm wide or larger. On the other hand, the spectral peak position of the PL lines remained constant with high accuracy (0.2–0.4 meV) across the microstructures. These observations are discussed in terms of the different possible mechanisms which determine the PL intensity variations, namely, non-radiative recombination at the etched walls and effects of stray electric fields which result from the etching process. Based on this discussion, we compare quantitatively the different etching processes which we have used. Altogether, this study illustrates the contribution that specially designed test structures, coupled with advanced spectroscopic characterization, can provide to the development of semiconductor photonic devices (e.g., lasers or waveguides) involving etching processes.

We report Te-doped GaP nanowires (NWs) with positive tapering and radii measuring as low as 5 nm grown by the self-assisted vapor-liquid-solid mechanism using selective-area molecular beam epitaxy. The occurrence of the ultrathin nanoantenna showed a dependence on pattern pitch (separation between NWs) with a predominance at 600 nm pitch, and exhibited radius oscillations that correlate with polytypic zincblende/wurtzite segments. A growth model explains the positive tapering of the NW leading to an ultrathin tip from the suppression of surface diffusion of Ga adatoms on the NW sidewalls by Te dopant flux. The model also provides a relationship between the radius modulations and the oscillations of the droplet contact angle, predicting the quasi-periodic radius oscillations and corresponding crystal phase transitions. The GaP NWs showed strong low temperature micro-photoluminescence exciton-related emission, indicating a bandgap difference between the zincblende/wurtzite segments, with phonon replicas due to the transverse optical phonon mode. These results establish a link between dopants and the ability to control NW morphology, crystal phase and luminescent properties with possible applications in thermoelectrics, quantum emitters and photodetectors.

Fabrication processes for photonic devices, especially micro- or nano-photonic devices, call for some kind of control of the materials’ optical properties at the stage of the final device. Our study focusses on measuring the optical quality of quantum well (QW) containing materials after device processing, using steps such as etching which allows fabrication of optical waveguides for example. We first designed and realized specific material structures based on an InP substrate, with a series of InAs x P 1-x quantum wells such as illustrated on the figure. The samples were grown by gas-phase molecular beam epitaxy. The samples were characterized by spatially-resolved photoluminescence (PL) at low temperature (10 K). The top right part shows a typical spectrum measured from the sample we have grown: sharp lines associated with each QW can be clearly identified thanks to a careful grading of the As/P composition in each QW, while keeping its thickness to a constant value (typically 7 to 8 nm). Then we etched the samples (in the form of rectangular ridges as shown) using different etching processes, based either on wet etching or reactive ion etching (RIE), and recorded the PL spectra with high spatial resolution across the obtained structures. In parallel, the samples after etching were also characterized by cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy. Data processing from the series of PL spectra was then performed in order the characterize the effects of etching on the QW materials. We show PL intensity profiles across a series of etched stripes of different widths resulting from a RIE process. These intensity profiles were obtained from the lines associated with the different QWs in the structure. One can observe, first of all, that the PL intensity gradually increases from the edges to the center of the stripes, over a range of up to 10 µm. One can also observe that for “wide” stripes, i.e. 30 or 50 µm, the PL intensity for each line saturates at the same level in the central part. However, for the narrower stripes (10 or 20 µm), the PL signal does not reach the same level. This is the signature of some PL-limitation phenomenon, which extends its effects far from the etched sidewalls. A “standard” phenomenon resulting solely from non-radiative recombination at the etched sidewalls is excluded. Non-radiative recombination can only affect regions which are less than one charge carrier diffusion length from the sidewalls. Diffusion length in our materials is less than 1 µm. Therefore, some kind of “long range” interaction seems to affect our samples. We propose that this long range interaction is due to some stray static electric field resulting from the presence of residual ions left by the etching process at the sidewalls. The electric field affects the PL intensity through dissociation of excitons. Moreover, we observed that different conditions for the etching process (wet etching versus RIE, crystallographic orientation of the stripes) impact the magnitude of this PL intensity quenching. [1] Pearton S 1997 Materials Science and Engineering: B 44 1–7 [2] Landesman J P, Isik-Goktas N, LaPierre R R, Levallois C, Ghanad-Tavakoli S, Pargon E, Petit-Etienne C and Jiménez J 2021 Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 54 445106 [3] Fiore A, Rossetti M, Alloing B, Paranthoen C, Chen J X, Geelhaar L and Riechert H 2004 Physical Review B 70 205311 [4] Bludau W and Wagner E 1976 Physical Review B 13 5410–5414 Figure 1

An analytical device physics model is presented for determining the energy conversion efficiency of semiconductor nanowire array-based radial (core–shell) p-i-n junction betavoltaic cells for two- and three-dimensional radioisotope source geometries. Optimum short-circuit current density J sc, open-circuit voltage V oc, fill factor F F, and energy conversion efficiency η are determined for various nanowire properties, including dopant concentration, nanowire length, core diameter, and shell thickness, for Si, GaAs, and GaP material systems. A maximum efficiency of 8.05 % was obtained for GaP nanowires with diameter 200 nm (p-core diameter, i-shell, and n-shell thicknesses of 24, 29.4, and 58.6 nm, respectively), length 10 μ m, acceptor and donor concentrations of 10 19 and 5 × 10 18 cm − 3, respectively, and a 3D source geometry.

We demonstrate the selective area growth (SAG) of InGaAs nanowires (NWs) on GaAs (111)B substrates using hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE). A high growth rate of more than 50 μm/h and high aspect ratio NWs were obtained. Composition along the NWs was investigated by energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) giving an average indium composition of 84%. This is consistent with the composition of 78% estimated from the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of the NWs. Crystal structure analysis of the NWs by transmission electron microscopy indicated random stacking faults related to zinc-blende/wurtzite (ZB/WZ) polytypism. This work demonstrates the ability of HVPE for growing high aspect ratio InGaAs NW arrays.