Photopumping of quantum well heterostructures at high or low Q: phonon-assisted laser operation

Journal Article · Thu Feb 08 04:00:00 EST 1990 · Journal of Physical Chemistry; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/j100366a011· OSTI ID:7245866

Holonyak, N Jr; Nam, D W; Plano, W E; Hsieh, K C ^[1]; Dupuis, R D ^[2]

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1. Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (USA)
2. AT and T Labs., Murray Hill, NJ (USA)

Data are presented showing the basic difference in the stimulated emission spectrum of a photopumped Al{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}As-GaAs or Al{sub y}Ga{sub 1-y}As-GaAs-In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x} As quantum well heterostructure (QWH) heat sunk in a high-Q versus a low-Q cavity configuration. In the high-Q case a 1-2 {mu}m thick narrow (25-50 {mu}m) cleaved rectangle, with the (100) GaAs substrate removed, is heat sunk compressed in In under a sapphire, giving a high cavity photon lifetime because of metal reflectors folded up along the four samples edges. In the latter case (low Q) the (100) QWH rectangle is clamped under a sapphire into simple contact with Au, leaving the four cleaved (110) sample edges lossy and yielding, compared to carrier thermalization times, a short resonator photon lifetime across the sample. For photopumping (77 K, Ar{sup +} laser, 5145 {angstrom}) of a low-Q QWH sample, only lower energy recombination radiation is observed, including phonon-assisted laser operation (provided that the QWH is designed with good carrier, phonon, and photon confinement and with low alloy composition Al{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}As thermalization layers generating GaAs, like phonons near the QW). For photopumping of an otherwise similar QWH heat sunk in the high-Q configuration (long photon lifetime across the sample), recombination at higher energy can compete with carrier thermalization, and laser operation is observed on the confined-particle transitions, thus making unambiguous the identification of phonon sideband laser operation. Comparison of various QWHs heat sunk in the form of low-Q or high-Q resonators reveals the heterostructure layer configurations appropriate for phonon-assisted laser operation.

• OSTI ID: 7245866
• Journal Information: Journal of Physical Chemistry; (USA), Journal Name: Journal of Physical Chemistry; (USA) Vol. 94:3; ISSN 0022-3654; ISSN JPCHA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360603 -- Materials-- Properties
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
400500* -- Photochemistry
ARSENIC COMPOUNDS
ARSENIDES
CALCULATION METHODS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DATA ANALYSIS
EMISSION SPECTRA
GALLIUM ARSENIDES
GALLIUM COMPOUNDS
HETEROJUNCTIONS
JUNCTIONS
MATERIALS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MEASURING METHODS
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PHOTOCHEMICAL REACTIONS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PNICTIDES
SEMICONDUCTOR JUNCTIONS
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SPECTRA