Carrier Dynamic Investigations of AlGaInAs Quantum Well Revealed by Temperature-Dependent Time-Resolved Photoluminescence.

Yue Song,Yongqiang Ning,Yuxin Lei,Cheng Qiu,Ligong Zhang,Li Qin,Lijun Wang,Lei Liang,Yugang Zeng,Yongyi Chen,Peng Jia

doi:10.3390/ma13194227

Abstract

AlGaInAs quantum well (QW) lasers have great potential in the application fields of optical communications and eye-safety lidars, owing to the advantages of good gain performance. A large amount of experimental evidence indicated that carrier dynamic affects the resonant frequency and modulation response performance of QW lasers. However, the mechanism of carrier dynamic in AlGaInAs QW structure is still ambiguous for complicated artificial multilayers. In this paper, the carrier dynamic of AlGaInAs QW structure was investigated by temperature-dependent time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) in the range of 14 to 300 K. Two relaxation times (a fast component and a slow one) have a major impact on the PL emission spectra of the AlGaInAs QW below 200 K. The carriers prefer a fast decay channel in the low temperature regime, whereas the slow one a higher temperature. An unconventional temperature dependence of carrier relaxation is observed in both decay processes. The carriers’ lifetime decreases with the temperature increasing till 45 K and then increases with temperature up to 250 K. It is quite different from that in the bulk semiconductor. The mechanism of temperature-dependent carrier relaxation at temperatures above 45 K is a combination of dark state occupation and a nonradiative recombination process.

Highlights

State Key Laboratory of Luminescence and Applications, Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peng Cheng Laboratory, No 2, Xingke 1st Street, Shenzhen 518000, China
As temperature is crucial to the transition rate of electrons and holes, especially for those transporting to nonradiative recombination centers, we mainly focus our attention on temperature dependence of such dynamics in this paper
The series of emission decay traces at different temperatures for the AlGaInAs quantum well (QW) is shown in Figure 2b, while the detection wavelengths were located at the emission peak of each spectrum for a certain temperature

Summary

Introduction

AlGaInAs quantum well (QW) lasers have great potential in the application fields of optical communications and eye-safety lidars, owing to the advantages of good gain performance. The carriers prefer a fast decay channel in the low temperature regime, whereas the slow one a higher temperature. 1.3–1.5 μm wavelength semiconductor quantum well (QW) lasers have great potential in the application fields of optical communications, eye-safety lidar and three-dimensional imaging [1,2]. Due to the large conduction-band offset and low valence-band offset, AlGaInAs series of III–V materials that take advantage of good high-temperature performance, suitable photon energy and high material gain have become indispensable for 1.3–1.5 μm InP-based laser diode [3,4,5]. AlGaInAs QW lasers exhibit higher modulation-speed, more superior high-temperature performance than the frequently-used

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Results

Conclusion