Room temperature contactless electroreflectance characterization of InGaAs/InAs/GaAs quantum dot wafers

Abstract

Contactless electroreflectance (CER) mapping has been performed on InGaAs capped InAs/GaAs quantum dot (QD) wafers of 2 inch diameter grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The CER spectra have revealed several features related to InAs self-assembled QDs and a quantum well (QW) formed of the InAs wetting layer and the InGaAs cap layer. The particular optical transitions have been identified based on theoretical calculations of the energy levels in the InAs/InGaAs/GaAs wetting layer related step-like QW, performed within the effective mass approximation. The influence of possible uncertainties in cap content or band offsets has also been analysed. The advantages of modulation spectroscopy, namely its absorption-like character and high sensitivity to optical transitions with even very low oscillator strength including those between the excited states, have allowed the energies of all the transitions along the wafer to be followed. The latter has shown that within experimental error the transition energies are independent of the position of the probing spot on the sample. It demonstrates not only a very high uniformity of the dot ensemble but also the wetting layer related QW and hence also the content and thickness of the InGaAs cap.