Doping effect on dark currents in In₀.₅Ga₀.₅As∕GaAs quantum dot infrared photodetectors grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

Stacked self-assembled In₀.₅Ga₀.₅As∕GaAs quantum dot infrared photodetectors grown by low-pressure metal-organic chemical vapor deposition, with and without silicon dopants in the quantum dot layers, are investigated. The increase of dark currents observed at higher doping levels is attributed to higher defect density leading to stronger sequential resonant tunneling and to lowering of the operating temperature of the device

Nanoscale plasmonic resonators with high Purcell factor: Spontaneous and stimulated emission

Plasmonic nanoparticles with silver cores and silica shells containing Eu fluorophores near the surface have been produced by wet chemistry method and their spontaneous emission properties characterized. Fluorescence amplification and decreased lifetime is interpreted within the Purcell framework which highlights the role of surface plasmon polariton modes of the nanoparticle. These behave as energy-storing resonators, with values of the Q factor between 50 and 170 at the fluorophore wavelength of 615 nm, and very small mode volumes, in the order of 104 nm3, producing high Purcell factors of over 4000. Comparison of experiment with theoretical calculations by using the Mie theory shows that the values of cavity Q factors are moderated by the nonradiative rate of fluorophore molecules close to metal. The criteria for laser action in such composite nanoparticles are also presented, including lasing frequencies and threshold gain. © 2011 SPIE

Mechanisms of enhancement of light emission in nanostructures of II–VI compounds doped with manganese

Intra-shell transitions of transition metal and rare earth ions are parity forbidden processes. For Mn²⁺ ions this is also a spin forbidden process, i.e., light emission should be inefficient. Surprisingly, it was reported that in nanostructures of ZnMnS the ⁴T₁ to ⁶A₁ intra-shell transition of Mn²⁺ results in a bright photoluminescence characterized by a short PL decay time. The model of a quantum confined atom was introduced to explain the observed experimental results. It was later claimed that this model is incorrect. Based on the results of our photoluminescence, photoluminescence kinetics, time-resolved photoluminescence, electron spin resonance and optically detected magnetic resonance investigations we confirm photoluminescence enhancement and decrease of photoluminescence lifetime and relate these effects to spin dependent magnetic interactions between localized spins of Mn²⁺ ions and spins/magnetic moments of free carriers. This mechanism is active in both bulk and in low-dimensional structures, but is significantly enhanced in nanostructure samples

Silver and gold nanoparticle coated membranes applied to protein dot blots

Detection and identification of low abundance biomarker proteins is frequently based on various types of membrane-based devices. Lowering of the protein detection limits is vital in commercial applications such as lateral flow assays and in Western blots widely used in proteomics. These currently suffer from insufficient detection sensitivity and low retention for small 2–5 kDa proteins. In this study, we report the deposition of two types of metal nanoparticles: gold colloids (50–95 nm diameter) and silver fractals onto a range of commonly used types of membranes including polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). Due to strong affinity of proteins to noble metals, such modified membranes have the potential to effectively capture trace proteins preventing their loss. The membranes modified by metal particles were characterized optically and by SEM. The membrane performance in protein dot blots was evaluated using the protein—fluorophore conjugates Deep Purple-bovine serum albumin and fluorescein—human serum albumin. We found that the metal nanoparticles increase light extinction by metals, which is balanced by increased fluorescence, so that the effective fluorescence signal is unchanged. This feature combined with the capture of proteins by the nanoparticles embedded in the membrane increases the detection limit of membrane assays.12 page(s

Doping effect on dark currents in In0.5Ga0.5As/GaAs quantum dot infrared photodetectors grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

Stacked self-assembled In0.5Ga0.5As/GaAs quantum dot infrared photodetectors grown by low-pressure metal-organic chemical vapor deposition, with and without silicon dopants in the quantum dot layers, are investigated. The increase of dark currents observed at higher doping levels is attributed to higher defect density leading to stronger sequential resonant tunneling and to lowering of the operating temperature of the device

Study of optical and electrical properties of AlxGa1-xSb grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

AlxGa1-xSb films in the regime 0x0.25 have been grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on GaAs and GaSb substrates using TMAl, TMGa, and TMSb precursors. We report growth conditions and film properties, including the effect of V/III ratio and growth temperature on electrical and optical properties. Growth temperatures in the range of 520°C and 680°C and V/III ratios from 1 to 5 have been investigated. All epilayers grown exhibit p-type behavior. The mobility decreases and the carrier concentration increases sharply when a small amount of Al is incorporated into GaSb. The sharp cutoff and Fabry-Perot oscillations of the transmission spectra of the AlGaSb layers confirm the high quality of the films. The principle photoluminescence features observed are attributed to bound exciton and donor-acceptor transitions with FWHM comparable to the best values reported elsewhere.7 page(s

Dynamics of light emission in CdMnS nanoparticles

We demonstrate coexistence of slow and fast components of photoluminescence decay of the Mn²⁺ intra-shell emission in nanoparticles of CdMnS. We explain the observed decrease in PL lifetime of the Mn²⁺ intra-shell transition by high efficiency of spin dependent magnetic interactions between localized spins of Mn²⁺ ions and free carriers. This mechanism is enhanced in nanostructures, but it is also present in bulk samples.8 page(s

Annealing of ZnS nanocrystals grown by colloidal synthesis

ZnS nanocrystals (NCs) capped with tetramethylammonium (TMAH) were synthesized from ZnCl2 · 2H2O and thiourea using a wet chemical process. Further treatments of the nanocrystals such as aging, and annealing have been conducted to examine the stability of the grown samples. The X-ray diffraction spectra show that the crystal has a zinc blende structure with particle size of about 2 nm. The evidence of nanocrystalline character is also clear in the UV-Vis absorption that shows an excitonic peak at about 236 nm (5.2 eV) arising from band edge transitions. A photoluminescence emission peak centered at about 450 nm (2.7 eV) is attributed to transitions between shallow donors and Zn+ vacancies. Both absorption and photoluminescence spectra show that sample aging does not affect the characteristics of the sample, possibly due to protection by TMAH capping. Annealing at 700 °C and 900 °C results in the red shift of the photoluminescence. © 2006

Growth-temperature-dependent cathodoluminescence properties of GaSb/GaAs quantum-dot multilayer structures

Multilayer GaSb/GaAs quantum-dot (QD) structures grown by atmospheric-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on semi-insulating GaAs (100) substrates with varying growth temperature of the confinement layers are studied by the cathodoluminescence (CL). Two main features assigned to wetting layer and QDs are observed in the CL spectra. Their relative positions strongly depend on the growth conditions of the confinement layers. The highest separation of 270 meV is achieved for GaAs confinement layers grown at 540 °C. © 2005 American Institute of Physics

Cadmium selenide and zinc sulfide nanoparticles - challenges in synthesis revealed through optical properties

Semiconductor nanoparticles, also called quantum dots (QDs), are emerging as the new class of fluorescent labeling materials in biological applications. In comparison with fluorescent dyes, QDs have unique optical and electronic properties: size-tunable light emission, high brightness, broad excitation with possible simultaneous excitation of multiple fluorescent colors. One of the key challenges for synthesis chemistry is to produce small size and monodisperse (single color) QDs with high reproducibility. In this report we describe synthesis and characterization of CdSe and ZnS QDs using two different synthesis approaches. The first is carried out at high temperature in trioctyl-phosphine oxide (TOPO) as a coordinating solvent, while the second synthesis is carried out at lower temperature in ethylene glycol. We present the challenges in nanoparticle synthesis and show ways, in which these could be overcome.4 page(s