GaInAs/InP quantum wells grown by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy

Abstract

Single quantum well InP/Ga0.47In0.53As/InP structures have been fabricated using atmospheric pressure organometallic vapor phase epitaxy. The reactants were trimethylgallium, trimethylindium, arsine, and phosphine. The structures were characterized mainly using low-temperature (4 K) photoluminescence (PL). Three major changes in the PL emission were observed as the well thickness was decreased from 500 to 62 Å. The PL peak energy was observed to increase by 41 meV, slightly less than predicted from simple calculations. The PL intensity was found to increase, being proportional to the reciprocal well thickness. The PL intensity from the 62 Å well was found to be approximately 100× higher than for 1–2-μm-thick Ga0.47In0.53 As epitaxial layers. Finally, the half-width of the single PL peak was found to increase with decreasing well width. This was tentatively interpreted in terms of well size fluctuations due to an approximately 20 Å compositional transition at each interface.