Deuterium in In-based quantum wells

Abstract

The photoluminescence (PL) of high quality InGaAs/GaAs typically shows one strong intrinsic band, due to the heavy-bole free-exciton (HHFE) recombination. After sample irradiation with deuterium, two bands appear at energies below that of HHFE: a deeper band, D, due to radiative recombination at a deuterium-related site, and a shallower band, (D,X), attributed to an exciton bound to the same state. A maximum of the binding energy has been observed as a function of the well width for both states. As the indium molar fraction x increases, the strength of the D band decreases, together with its binding energy, until the band becomes no more detectable at x=0.37. The (D,X) band cannot be resolved for x ≥ 0.19. Deuterium diffusion has no beneficial effect on the PL intensity of InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells. Different is the case of InAs/GaAs quantum wells having well width below 2 monolayers. Although no strain relaxation occurs in the samples, the PL of the virgin samples is typical of structures with a high number of defects. After deuterium diffusion, the PL intensity increases by one to three orders of magnitude, depending whether non-radiative centers or thermal escape of carriers from the well rule the PL efficiency.