Intersubband Transitions in Quantum Wells

340 Pages·1992·23.86 MB·English

by  J. Y. Andersson

Intersubband Transitions
in Quantum Wells
NATO ASI Series
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fiecenf Volumes in this Series
Volume 287—Coherence Phenomena in Atoms and Molecules
in Laser Fields
edited by Andre D. Bandrauk and Stephen C. Wallace
Volume 288—Intersubband Transitions in Quantum Wells
edited by Emmanuel Rosencher, B0rge Vinter, and Barry Levine
Volume 289—Nuclear Shapes and Nuclear Structure at Low Excitation Energies
edited by Michel Vergnes, Jocelyne Sauvage, Paul-Henri Heenen,
and Hong Tuan Duong
Volume 290—Phase Transitions in Liquid Crystals
edited by S. Martellucci and A. N. Chester
Volume 291—Proton Transfer in Hydrogen-Bonded Systems
edited by T. Bountis
Volume 292—Microscopic Simulations of Complex Hydrodynamic Phenomena
edited by Michel Mareschal and Brad L Holian
Volume 293—Methods in Computational Molecular Physics
edited by Stephen Wilson and Geerd H. F. Diercksen
Volume 294—Single Charge Tunneling: Coulomb Blockade Phenomena
in Nanostructures
edited by Hermann Grabert and Michel H. Devoret
Series B: Physics
Intersubband Transitions
in Quantum Wells
Edited by
Emmanuel Rosencher and B0rge Vinter
Thomson-CSF
Central Research Laboratory
Orsay, France
and
Barry Levine
AT&T Bell Laboratories
Murray Hill, New Jersey
Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
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ISBN 978-1-4613-6475-7 ISBN 978-1-4615-3346-7 (eBook)
ISBN 978-1-4613-6475-7 ISBN 978-1-4615-3346-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4615-3346-7
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4615-3346-7
1. Quantum wells--Congresses. 2. Semlconductors--Congresses.
1. Quantum wells—Congresses. 2. Semiconductors—Congresses.
3. Layer structure (Solidsl--Congresses. 4. Oscil1ator strengths-
3. Layer structure (Solids)—Congresses. A. Oscillator strengths-
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III. Levlne, Barry. IV. North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
III. Levine, Barry. IV. North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Scientific Affairs Dlvision. V. Title. VI. Series.
Scientific Affairs Division. V. Title. VI. Series.
QC176.8.E4N326 1991
QC176.8.E4N326 1991
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537.6'22—dc20 92-10016
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PREFACE
This book contains the lectures delivered at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop
on the "Intersubband Transistions in Quantum Wells" held in Cargese, France, between the
9th and the 14th of September 1991. The urge for this Workshop was justified by the
impressive growth of work dealing with this subject during the last two or three years.
Indeed, thanks to recent progresses of epitaxial growth techniques, such as Molecular
Beam Epitaxy, it is now possible to realize semiconductor layers ( e.g. GaAs) with
thicknesses controlled within one atomic layer, sandwiched between insulating layers (e.g.
AlGaAs). When the semiconducting layer is very thin, i.e. less than 15 nm, the energy of the
carriers corresponding to their motion perpendicular to these layers is quantized, forming
subbands of allowed energies. Because of the low effective masses in these semiconducting
materials, the oscillator strengths corresponding to intersubband transitions are extremely
large and quantum optical effects become giant in the 5 - 20 ~ range: photoionization,
optical nonlinearities, ... Moreover, a great theoretical surprise is that - thanks to the
robustness of the effective mass theory -these quantum wells are a real life materialization of
our old text book one-dimensional quantum well ideal. Complex physical phenomena may
then be investigated on a simple model system.
Three main aspects have emerged from this Workshop:
1 - FUNDAMENTALS OF INTERSUBBAND TRANSmONS
When the photons are absorbed in the quantum wells, electrons are transferred on
excited states and are scattered, part of them in the insulator conduction band, part of them
back on the ground state. Most of the lectures deal with the intersubband relaxation
mechanisms, the electric field effects on the photoionization, the many body effects, the
transport mechanisms through the other quantum wells. Moreover, papers relating effects in
other materials (e.g. SiGe) and in lower dimensionnal systems open the way to new
realizations.
2 - OPTICAL NONLINEARmES
By using asymmetric aluminum concentration gradients, it is possible to obtain giant
optical nonlinearities. These structures behave much the same as giant "quasi-molecules"
optimized in the infrared range. The basic physics of resonnant optical nonlinearities has been
addressed, with application to modulators, switches, optical rectifiers, second harmonic
generation. The possibility of obtaining lasing action in intersubband transitions has also been
addressed.
3 - DETECTION DEVICES
Impressive realizations have been presented, such as the videotape realized by the Bell
Lab group with their 128 x 128 quantum well arrays coupled to a silicon read-out circuit.
v
Though a very new subject, intersubband transitions seem to lead to one of the major
industrial application to quantum wells, together with quantum well lasers. Various other
aspects have been adressed, such as the limit detectivities, the role of injection mechanisms at
the contacts, the optimization of device parameters and grating couplers ...
I believe that every participant would agree that this Workshop has been a success,
thanks to the scientific involvement of all the scientists present here, the thrilling scope of this
subject and the beauty of the Corsican coast.
We gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the NATO Scientific Affairs
Division, the Centre National d'Etudes des TcHecommunications(CNET), the Division de
Recherches et d'Etudes Techniques (DRET) and Thomson-CSF. Moreover, the Workshop
would not have been such a success without the skillful help of the team of the Institut
d'Etudes Scientifiques de Cargese, particularly Marie-France Hanseler, and the competence,
willingness and efficiency of Brigitte Marchalot, the secretary of this Workshop.
Emmanuel Rosencher
Laboratoire Central de Recherches, Thomson-CSF
Orsay ( France)
vi
CONTENTS
DETECTION
Coupling of Radiation into Quantum Well Infrared Detectors by the Use of Reflection
Gratings and Waveguide Structures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
J. Y. Andersson and L. Lundqvist
Fundamental Limits in Quantum Well Intersubband Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
I. Grave and A. Yariv
Perfonnance Trade Offs in the Quantum Well Infra-Red Detector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
M. J. Kane, S. Millidge, M. T. Emeny, D. Lee, D. R. P. Guy,
and C. R. Whitehouse
Recent Progress in Quantum Well Infrared Photodetectors .................. 43
B. F. Levine
Effects of the Upper State Position and the Number of Wells on the Perfonnance of
Intersubband Quantum Well Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
H. C. Liu, A. G. Steele, M. Buchanan, and Z. R. Wasilewski
Intersubband Transition and Electron Transport in Potential-Inserted Quantum Well
Structures and their Potentials for Infrared Photodetector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
H. Sakaki, H. Sugawara, J. Motohisa, and T. Noda
Photovoltaic Intersubband Photodetectors Using GaAs Quantum Wells Confined by
AlAs Tunnel Baniers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
H. Schneider, K. Kheng, F. Fuchs, J. D. Ralston, B. Dischier, and P. Koidl
Photon Drag IR-Detectors -the Doppler Effect in the Intersubband Resonance of
2-D Electron SysteIl1S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
H. Sigg
Application of Multiple Quantum-Well Infrared Detectors to Present and Future
Infrared Sensor SysteIl1S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
R. L. Whitney, F. W. Adams, and K. F. Cuff
LOW·DIMENSION EFFECTS
Phonon Scattering and Relaxation Properties of Lower Dimensional Electron Gases. 105
U. Bockelmann
Spectroscopy of Quantum-Dot Atoms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
D. Heitmann, B. Meurer, T. Demel, P. Grambow, and K. Ploog
vii
NONLINEAR OPTICS
Electron Transfer Infrared Modulator (ETIM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
V. Berger, N. Vodjdani, B. Vinter, D. Delacourt, E. Dupont, E. Costard,
D. Papillon, E. Bockenhoff, and J. P. Schnell
Nonlinear Optics of Intersubband Transitions in A1InAs/GalnAs Coupled Quantum Wells:
. . . . . . . ..
Second Harmonic Generation and Resonant Stark Tuning of xi~ 141
F. Capasso, C. Sirtori, D. Sivco, and A. Y. Cho
Far-Infrared Emission and Absorption Spectroscopy of Quantum Wells
and Superlattices ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
M.Helm
Room-Temperature Photo-Induced Intersubband Absorption in GaAs/AlGaAs
Quantum Wells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
F. H. Julien
Second Harmonic Generation in Asymmetric AlGaAS Quantum Wells. . . . . . . . . .. 173
F. H. Julien
Model System for Optical Nonlinearities: Asymmetric Quantum Wells. . . . . . . . . .. 183
E. Rosencher and P. Bois
Third Order Intersubband Kerr Effect in GaAs/AlGaAs Quantum Wells. . . . . . . . .. 197
A. Sa'ar, N. Kuze, J. Feng, I. Grave, and A. Yariv
Optical Bistability Related to Intersubband Absorption in Asymmetric Quantum Wells 209
M. Seto and M. Helm
Feasibility of Optically-Pumped Four-Level Infrared Lasers ................. 219
G. Sun and J. B. Khurgin
Quantum Well Engineering for Intersubband Transitions -General Conduction Band
Extrema and Valence Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
K. L. Wang, S. K. Chun, and R. P. G. Karunasiri
OTHER QUANTUM SYSTEMS
Internal Photoemission of Asymmetrical Pt/Si/ErSi1.7 Heterostructures
with Tunable Cutoff Wavelength. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 243
P. A. Badoz, L. Pahun, Y. Campidelli, and F. Arnaud d'Avitaya
Intersubband Absorption in the Conduction Band of Si/Si Ge.
l_.
Multiple Quantum Wells. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
H. Hertle, F. Schiiffler, A. Zrenner, E. Gornik:, and G. Abstreiter
PHYSICS OF INTERSUBBAND TRANSITIONS
Inelastic Light Scattering of Electronic Excitations in Quantum Wells ........... 261
G. Abstreiter
Photo-Induced Intersubband Transitions in Quantum Wells ....... ~ . . . . . . . . . . 263
E. Cohen, E. Ehrenfreund, Y. Garini, M. Olszakier, and A. Ron
Subpicosecond Luminescence Study of Capture and Intersubband Relaxation
in Quantum Wells. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 275
B. Deveaud, A. Chomette, F. Clerot, and A. Regreny
viii
futersubband Infrared Absorption in a GaAS/Alo.3Gao.7As Multiple Quantum Well. . 287
M. O. Manasreh, F. Szmulowicz, T. Vaughan, K. R. Evans, C. E. Stutz,
and D. W. Fischer
Electric Field Effects on Bound to Quasibound futersubband Absorption
and Photocurrent in GaAs/AlGaAs Quantum Wells .................. 299
E. Martinet, F. Luc, E. Rosencher, P. Bois, E. Costard, S. Delaitre,
and E. BOckenhoff
futersubband Relaxation in Modulation Doped Quantum Well Structures . . . . . . . . . 309
U. Plodereder, T. Dahinten, A. Seilmeier, and G. Weimann
Theory of Optical futersubband Transitions ............................ 319
A. Shik
Bound to Free State fufrared Absorption and Selection Rules in Quantum Wells. . . . 329
B. Vinter and L. Thibaudeau
Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
fudex ..................................................... 343
ix
COUPLING OF RADIATION INTO QUANTUM WELL INFRARED DETECTORS BY
THE USE OF REFLECTION GRATINGS AND WAVEGUIDE STRUCTURES
J. Y. Andersson and L. Lundqvist
Swedish Institute of Microelectronics
P. O. Box 1084, S - 164 21 Kista, Sweden
INTRODUCTION
Long wavelength infrared detectors based on intersubband
transitions in AIGaAs/GaAs n-type doped quantum wells (QW)
have been shown to exhibit high detectivities D* = 1·101 0 -
10 O.S -1. th I th' t
5·10 cm·Hz 'W l.n e wave eng regl.on 8 - 10 /.lm a 80 K,
and are viable candidates for the fabrication of large
linear and two-dimensional detector arrays1,2. Detectors with
QWs of other material compositions like InAIAs/InGaAs and
InGaAs/InP, have also been fabricated and show great promise.
The QW infrared detector is basically of the photoconductive
type, although detectors working in the photovoltaic mode have
been demonstrated3,4.
For detector arrays the response uniformity across the
array is usually the most critical parameter with values of
1 % - 2 % obtained for the AIGaAs/GaAs QW detectorS,B. These
excellent values are a result of the well developed growth and
processing technology of GaAs. In addition, due to the large
band-gap, the material properties of gallium arsenide are
outstanding, with a superb heat and radiation hardness, which
is in sharp contrast to the sensitivity to heat treatment of
small band-gap intrinsic detector materials (e. g. InSb and
HgCdTe) .
However, besides uniformity other requirements of detec
tors elements in arrays are a sufficiently high detectivity
D* , and back-ground photon noise limited operation (BLIP).
BLIP operation will result in lowest possible dark current. A
high dark current, besides being the source of noise, tends to
saturate charge coupled device (CCD) circuitry if used as
read-out.
A large quantum efficiency ~ is a prerequisite for ob
taining high responsivities, detectivities and to attain BLIP
operation at sufficiently high detector temperatures. This
lntersubband Transitions in Quantum Wells
Edited by E. Rosencher et aI .• Plenum Press, New York, 1992