Temperature dependence of nonlinear absorption in InP doping superlattices

Abstract

Absorptive optical nonlinearity in InP doping superlattices grown by vapor-phase epitaxy is investigated in a 2–300 K temperature range. The absorption spectra have tails below InP band-gap energy, caused by the Franz–Keldysh effect due to the internal electric field. The absorption tail is almost temperature independent. This means that the periodic electric potential in the doping superlattice, responsible for the nonlinearity, is unchanged across this temperature range. Nonlinear absorption is evaluated by the pump-probe method. The large reduction in absorption coefficient is obtained even with a weak excitation light intensity. This enhancement in nonlinearity is due to prolongation of the excited-carrier lifetime. Nonlinear absorption increases as temperature decreases. This is due to the temperature dependence of the carrier lifetime.