The effect of potential fluctuations on the optical properties of InGaAs∕InAlAs superlattices

Abstract

Photoluminescence (PL) measurements as a function of temperature and excitation intensity were carried out in a sample containing two InGaAs∕InAlAs superlattices, grown on the same InP substrate, with quantum wells and barriers of different widths. The fluctuations in the confinement potential for excitons in both structures are investigated by following the blueshift of the PL peaks with increasing temperature as well as with rising excitation intensity, at low temperatures. A decrease in the full width at half maximum of the PL peaks with increasing excitation power was also observed. The change in the PL linewidth with excitation power is interpreted in terms of the variation of the relative contribution of the excitons localized at the excitonic band tail (due to the potential fluctuations) and of the nonlocalized excitons. Moreover, the activation energies of the nonradiative channels responsible for the thermal quenching of the photoluminescence peaks are deduced from an Arrhenius plot of the integrated PL intensity.