No abstract

Through the use of a novel vertically integrated resonant-tunneling diode (RTD) heterostructure we have established experimentally the relationship between intentional variations in the structural parameters of the pseudomorphic In0.53Ga0.47As/AlAs resonant tunneling diode (i.e., barrier thickness, quantum-well thickness, quantum-well composition, and doping density) and the measured current–voltage characteristics of the device. Based upon the results of these experiments, we have determined that a 1 monolayer increase in AlAs barrier width, InGaAs quantum-well width, or InAs subwell width results in a peak current reduction of 56%±7%, 19%±2%, and 18%±3%, respectively. Further, a 1% decrease in indium mole fraction of the InGaAs quantum well has been found to increase the peak current by 10%±1%. Sensitivity parameters have been tabulated for both the peak current and the peak voltage of the RTD. Through the use of these parameters, the maximum allowed fluctuation in the RTDs structural parameters has been estimated for a given tolerance in the RTDs electrical characteristics. Further, these data can also be used to evaluate the feasibility of in situ epitaxial growth control of resonant tunneling devices.

The room-temperature photoinduced switching of an InGaAs/AlAs resonant-tunneling diode is demonstrated. When illuminated at an irradiance of greater than 20 W cm−2 using 1.3 μm radiation, the resonant-tunneling diode switches from a high-conductance to a low-conductance electrical state and exhibits a voltage swing of 600 mV. The switching characteristics are reversible and, in the absence of light, the detector returns to its original high conductance operating state. Small-signal optical measurements performed with the device biased prior to resonance demonstrate a 3 dB bandwidth of ∼1.5 GHz.

Spectral hole burning at room temperature is used as a technique to compare optical nonlinearities of semiconductor quantum dot materials prepared by the sol-gel and glass fusion techniques. In an effort to understand the mechanism of photodarkening in quantum dots and assess its effect on optical nonlinearities, we prepared and characterized three representative samples with similar dot sizes. We found that photodarkening can be reduced substantially by controlling the media surrounding the dots. The sol-gel derived samples with 80 wt % SiO2 do not exhibit appreciable photodarkening while the melt-quenched glasses with 56 wt % SiO2 exhibit strong photodarkening effects at room temperature which results in reduction of their optical nonlinearity by a factor of ≂20 compared with the sol-gel derived samples.

GaAs layers have been grown on porous silicon (PS) substrates with good crystallinity by molecular beam epitaxy. In spite of the surface irregularity of PS substrates, no surface morphology deterioration was observed on epitaxial GaAs overlayers. A 10% Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy minimum channeling yield for GaAs-on-PS layers as compared to 16% for GaAs-on-Si layers grown under the same condition indicates a possible improvement of crystallinity when GaAs is grown on PS. Transmission electron microscopy reveals that the dominant defects in the GaAs-on-PS layers are microtwins and stacking faults, which originate from the GaAs/PS interface. GaAs is found to penetrate into the PS layers. n-type GaAs/p-type PS heterojunction diodes were fabricated with good rectifying characteristics.