MBE growth and characterization of high-quality strained multiple quantum well structures

Abstract

Molecular beam epitaxial growth and characterization of GaInAsSb AlGaAsSb strained multiple quantum wells (MQWs) have been investigated. Optimization for the growth have been studied by characterizing the MQWs with double-crystal X-ray rocking curve, photoluminescence (PL) and absorption measurements and evaluating laser diode performance. Up to the fifth-order the satellite peak is resolved in rocking curves, and asymmetric distribution of satellite peaks is found which indicates large strain in quantum well structures. PL and absorption measurements at different temperatures show the high quality of GaInAsSb AlGaAsSb multiple quantum wells grown under optimized conditions. The full-width of half-maximum of a PL peak as narrow as 9.0 meV is achieved at 4 K, and room-temperature PL and well-resolved excitonic absorption peaks are observed in the MQW structures. By using the GaInAsSb AlGaAsSb MQWs as active layers in laser diodes, pulsed operation at room temperature with emission at 2.05 μm has been obtained.