Photoluminescence study of lateral carrier confinement and compositional intermixing in (Al,Ga)Sb lateral superlattices

Abstract

We have compared the photoluminescence properties of an (Al,Ga)Sb lateral superlattice (LSL) quantum well to those of an (Al,Ga)Sb alloy quantum well, with respect to recombination energy and polarization dependence. From the results we have deduced the compositional intermixing and lateral carrier confinement present in the LSL structure. We found that the LSL well luminesces at 36 meV lower than the alloy well, and that emitted light from the LSL well is more than twice as intense when its electric field is polarized parallel versus perpendicular to the LSL ‘‘wires.’’ From these data we calculate that the lateral content of the LSL varies periodically between approximately 24% and 42% AlSb, and the maximum:minimum carrier density ratios are about 4:1 and 6:1 for electrons and heavy holes, respectively.