Manganese luminescence in GaAs/GaAlAs superlattices

Abstract

Luminescence transitions associated with manganese have been studied in the GaAlAs layers and GaAs-GaAlAs superlattices. In GaAlAs, manganese shows a behaviour characteristic of a centre that is partly deep and partly hydrogenic. In a superlattice, the ionisation energy of manganese increases as a function of the well width: it is 110 meV in GaAs, 132 meV in a 67 AA well and 192 meV in a 13 AA well. The change in ionisation energy can be explained by taking into account both the 'deep' and the hydrogenic character of manganese. Changes in ionisation energies are compared with theoretical calculations of the heavy hole confinement energy.