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Tuning of in-plane optical anisotropy by inserting ultra-thin InAs layer at interfaces in (001)-grown GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

Journal Article · · Journal of Applied Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4905020· OSTI ID:22399232
; ;  [1];  [2]
  1. Institute of Micro/Nano Devices and Solar Cells, School of Physics and Information Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou (China)
  2. Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Materials Science, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 912, Beijing 100083 (China)
The in-plane optical anisotropy (IPOA) in (001)-grown GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells (QWs) with different well widths varying from 2 nm to 8 nm has been studied by reflectance difference spectroscopy. Ultra-thin InAs layers with thickness ranging from 0.5 monolayer (ML) to 1.5 ML have been inserted at GaAs/AlGaAs interfaces to tune the asymmetry in the QWs. It is demonstrated that the IPOA can be accurately tailored by the thickness of the inserted ultra-thin InAs layer at the interfaces. Strain-induced IPOA has also been extracted by using a stress apparatus. We find that the intensity of the strain-induced IPOA decreases with the thickness of the inserted InAs layer, while that of the interface-induced IPOA increases with the thickness of the InAs layer. Theoretical calculations based on 6 band k ⋅ p theory have been carried out, and good agreements with experimental results are obtained. Our results demonstrate that, the IPOA of the QWs can be greatly and effectively tuned by inserting an ultra-thin InAs layer with different thicknesses at the interfaces of QWs, which does not significantly influence the transition energies and the transition probability of QWs.
OSTI ID:
22399232
Journal Information:
Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 117; ISSN JAPIAU; ISSN 0021-8979
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English