Nucleation and Growth of GaN/AlN Quantum Dots

We study the nucleation of GaN islands grown by plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy on AlN(0001) in a Stranski-Krastanov mode. In particular, we assess the variation of their height and density as a function of GaN coverage. We show that the GaN growth passes four stages: initially, the growth is layer-by-layer; subsequently, two-dimensional precursor islands form, which transform into genuine three-dimensional islands. During the latter stage, island height and density increase with GaN coverage until the density saturates. During further GaN growth, the density remains constant and a bimodal height distribution appears. The variation of island height and density as a function of substrate temperature is discussed in the framework of an equilibrium model for Stranski-Krastanov growth.Comment: Submitted to PRB, 10 pages, 15 figure

Functionalizing self-assembled GaN quantum dot superlattices by Eu-implantation

Self-assembled GaN quantum dots (QDs) stacked in superlattices (SL) with AlN spacer layers were implanted with Europium ions to fluences of 1013, 1014, and 1015 cm−2. The damage level introduced in the QDs by the implantation stays well below that of thick GaN epilayers. For the lowest fluence, the structural properties remain unchanged after implantation and annealing while for higher fluences the implantation damage causes an expansion of the SL in the [0001] direction which increases with implantation fluence and is only partly reversed after thermal annealing at 1000 °C. Nevertheless, in all cases, the SL quality remains very good after implantation and annealing with Eu ions incorporated preferentially into near-substitutional cation sites. Eu3+ optical activation is achieved after annealing in all samples. In the sample implanted with the lowest fluence, the Eu3+ emission arises mainly from Eu incorporated inside the QDs while for the higher fluences only the emission from Eu inside the AlN-buffer, capping, and spacer layers is observed. © 2010 American Institute of PhysicsFCT-PTDC/CTM/100756/2008program PESSOA EGIDE/GRICESFCT-SFRH/BD/45774/2008FCT-SFRH/BD/44635/200

Improvement of the mass separation power of a cyclotron by using the vertical selection method

International audienceIt is well known that cyclotrons are very good mass separators, specially when the number of turns in the machine is large. This property is particularly interesting if the cyclotron unavoidably accelerates multiple species of radioactive beams simultaneously, which is the case for the cyclotron CIME at GANIL. We propose to improve the natural mass separation power by using a vertical resonance effect: it consists of putting two small electrodes between the poles, which provide a vertical electric field operating at two frequencies close to twice the RF frequency and which are tuned with respect to the vertical betatron oscillation. A prototype has been designed and built at GANIL, and tested successfully in the cyclotron CIME this September

Growth and optical properties of GaN/AlN quantum wells

We demonstrate the growth of GaN/AlN quantum well structures by plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy by taking advantage of the surfactant effect of Ga. The GaN/AlN quantum wells show photoluminescence emission with photon energies in the range between 4.2 and 2.3 eV for well widths between 0.7 and 2.6 nm, respectively. An internal electric field strength of $9.2\pm 1.0$ MV/cm is deduced from the dependence of the emission energy on the well width.Comment: Submitted to AP

Step by step capping and strain state of GaN/AlN quantum dots studied by grazing incidence diffraction anomalous fine structure

The investigation of small size embedded nanostructures, by a combination of complementary anomalous diffraction techniques, is reported. GaN Quantum Dots (QDs), grown by molecular beam epitaxy in a modified Stranski-Krastanow mode, are studied in terms of strain and local environment, as a function of the AlN cap layer thickness, by means of grazing incidence anomalous diffraction. That is, the X-ray photons energy is tuned across the Ga absorption K-edge which makes diffraction chemically selective. Measurement of \textit{hkl}-scans, close to the AlN (30-30) Bragg reflection, at several energies across the Ga K-edge, allows the extraction of the Ga partial structure factor, from which the in-plane strain of GaN QDs is deduced. From the fixed-Q energy-dependent diffracted intensity spectra, measured for diffraction-selected iso-strain regions corresponding to the average in-plane strain state of the QDs, quantitative information regarding composition and the out-of-plane strain has been obtained. We recover the in-plane and out-of-plane strains in the dots. The comparison to the biaxial elastic strain in a pseudomorphic layer indicates a tendency to an over-strained regime.Comment: submitted to PR

Time-resolved photoluminescence of the size-controlled ZnO nanorods

Size dependence of the time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) has been investigated for the ZnO nanorods fabricated by catalyst-free metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The nanorods have a diameter of 35 nm and lengths in the range of 150 nm to 1.1 mum. The TRPL decay rate decreases monotonically as the length of the nanorods increases in the range of 150 to 600 nm. Decrease of the radiative decay rate of the exciton-polariton has been invoked to account for the results

Optical properties of wurtzite GaN/AlN quantum dots grown on non-polar planes: the effect of stacking faults in the reduction of the internal electric field

The optical emission of non-polar GaN/AlN quantum dots has been investigated. The presence of stacking faults inside these quantum dots is evidenced in the dependence of the photoluminescence with temperature and excitation power. A theoretical model for the electronic structure and optical properties of non-polar quantum dots, taking into account their realistic shapes, is presented which predicts a substantial reduction of the internal electric field but a persisting quantum confined Stark effect, comparable to that of polar GaN/AlN quantum dots. Modeling the effect of a 3 monolayer stacking fault inside the quantum dot, which acts as zinc-blende inclusion into the wurtzite matrix, results in an additional 30% reduction of the internal electric field and gives a better account of the observed optical features

Self-assembled zinc blende GaN quantum dots grown

Zinc blende ~ZB! GaN quantum dots have been grown by plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy on AlN buffer layers using 3C-SiC~001! substrates. The two- to three-dimensional growth mode transition is studied by following the evolution of the reflection high-energy electron diffraction pattern. ZB GaN island layers are further examined by atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, extracting a mean island height of 1.6 nm and a mean diameter of 13 nm at a density of 1.331011 cm22. Embedded ZB GaN quantum dots show strong ultraviolet photoluminescence without any thermal quenching up to room temperature.SFERERegion Rhône-AlpesConsejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologí

SPIRAL facility at GANIL : ion beam simulation and optimisation method for the CIME cyclotron injection system

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