High thermal stability of AlGaAs/GaAs V-grooved quantum wire

Abstract

In this article, we make a systematic comparison of the photoluminescence (PL) properties of AlGaAs/GaAs V-grooved quantum wire (QWR) structures with their counterpart quantum well (QWL) structures grown in the same system. The QWR structures exhibit constant photoluminescence (PL) intensity up to a temperature Tc of 90, 140, and 170 K for a 2, 5, and 9 nm QWR, respectively. The 9 nm QWR sample showed the highest relative thermal stability with respect to its counterpart 9 nm QWL sample, its PL intensity being stronger than that of the 9 nm QWL up to 270 K. This temperature is very close to room temperature, at which most opto-electronic devices operate. The time-resolved PL measurements provide further confirmation of the PL results. These data show that the PL thermal stability of the V-grooved QWR structures, despite the increased interface to volume ratio, is now comparable to that of the counterpart QWL structures, which is a basic condition for the superior properties of QWR structures to be brought into practical play.