Use of high index substrates to enable dislocation filtering in large mismatch systems

We report results in three areas of research relevant to the fabrication of a wide range of optoelectronic devices: The development of a new x-ray diffraction technique that can be used to rapidly determine the optimal period of a strained layer superlattice to maximize the dislocation filtering; The optimal MBE growth parameters for the growth of CdTe on GaAs(211); The determination of the relative efficiency of dislocation filtering in the (211) and (100) orientations; and The surface quality of InSb grown by MOCVD on InSb substrates is affected by the misorientation of the substrate

Interfaces in InAsSb/InGaAs strained-layer superlattices grown by MOCVD for use in infrared emitters

The authors have prepared InAsSb/InGaAs strained-layer superlattices (SLSs) using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). X-ray diffraction was used to determine lattice matching as well as composition and structure of the SLS`s. The presence of an InGaAsSb interface layer was indicated by x-ray diffraction for samples grown under non-optimized conditions. Interfacial layers were also identified with transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Two types of interfaces were observed by TEM. The different contrasts observed by TEM could be due to a difference in composition at the interfaces. The width of the x-ray peaks can be explained by a variation of the layer thickness

Development of InAsSb-based light-emitting diodes for chemical sensing systems

Mid-infrared (3--6 {micro}m) LED`s are being developed for use in chemical sensor systems. As rich, InAsSb heterostructures are particularly suited for optical emitters in the mid-infrared region. The authors are investigating both InAsSb-InAs multiple quantum well (MQW) and InAsSb-InAsP strained layer superlattice (SLS) structures for use as the active region for light emitting diodes (LED`s). The addition of phosphorus to the InAs barriers increases the light and heavy hole splitting and hence reduces non-radiative Auger recombination and provides for better electron and hole confinement in the InAsSb quantum well. Low temperature (< 20 K) photoluminescence (PL) emission from MQW structures is observed between 3.2 to 6.0 {micro}m for InAsSb wells between 70 to 100 {angstrom} and antimony mole fractions between 0.04 to 0.18. Room temperature PL has been observed to 6.4 {micro}m in MQW structures. The additional confinement by InAsP barriers results in low temperature PL being observed over a narrower range (3.2 to 5.0 {micro}m) for the similar well thicknesses with antimony mole fractions between 0.10 to 0.24. Room temperature photoluminescence was observed to 5.8 {micro}m in SLS structures. The addition of a p-AlAsSb layer between the n-type active region (MQW or SLS) and a p-GaAsSb contact layer improves electron confinement of the active region and increases output power by a factor of 4. Simple LED emitters have been fabricated which exhibit an average power at room temperature of > 100 {micro}W at 4.0 {micro}m for SLS active regions. These LED`s have been used to detect CO{sub 2} concentrations down to 24 ppm in a first generation, non-cryogenic sensor system. They will report on the development of novel LED device designs that are expected to lead to further improvements in output power

Ordering and bandgap reduction in InAs{sub 1{minus}x}Sb{sub x} alloys

InAs{sub 1{minus}x}Sb{sub x} alloys grown by MBE and MOCVD are found to have reduced emission energies due to CuPt-type order, even for Sb concentrations as low as x = 0.07 ({Delta}E = 25--65 meV). Cross-section TEM examination of such alloys shows the two {l_brace}111{r_brace}{sub B} variants are separated into regions 1--2 {mu}m across with platelet domains 10--40 nm thick on habit planes tilted {approximately}30{center_dot} from the (001) growth surface. Nomarski optical images show a cross-hatched surface pattern expected for lattice-mismatched layers. The local tilt of the surface correlates with the dominant variant in each region. InAs{sub 1{minus}x}Sb{sub x}/In{sub 1{minus}y}Ga{sub y}As strained-layer superlattices with low Sb content and flat surfaces also show CuPt ordering

Progress in the growth of mid-infrared InAsSb emitters by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

We report on recent progress and improvements in the metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) growth of mid-infrared lasers and using a high speed rotating disk reactor (RDR). The devices contain AlAsSb active regions. These lasers have multi-stage, type I InAsSb/InAsP quantum well active regions. A semi-metal GaAsSb/InAs layer acts as an internal electron source for the multi-stage injection lasers and AlAsSb is an electron confinement layer. These structures are the first MOCVD multi-stage devices. Growth in an RDR was necessary to avoid the previously observed Al memory effects found in conventional horizontal reactors. A single stage, optically pumped laser yielded improved power (greater than 650 mW/facet) at 80K and 3.8um. A multi-stage 3.8-3.9um laser structure operated up to T=170K. At 80K, peak power greater than 100mW and a high slope- efficiency were observed in gain guided lasers