Browsing by Subject "Quantum well intermixing"

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    Conservation of quantum efficiency in quantum well intermixing by stress engineering with dielectric bilayers
    (Institute of Physics Publishing, 2018) Arslan, Seval; Demir, Abdullah; Şahin, S.; Aydınlı, A.
    In semiconductor lasers, quantum well intermixing (QWI) with high selectivity using dielectrics often results in lower quantum efficiency. In this paper, we report on an investigation regarding the effect of thermally induced dielectric stress on the quantum efficiency of quantum well structures in impurity-free vacancy disordering (IFVD) process using photoluminescence and device characterization in conjunction with microscopy. SiO2 and Si x O2/SrF2 (versus SrF2) films were employed for the enhancement and suppression of QWI, respectively. Large intermixing selectivity of 75 nm (125 meV), consistent with the theoretical modeling results, with negligible effect on the suppression region characteristics, was obtained. Si x O2 layer compensates for the large thermal expansion coefficient mismatch of SrF2 with the semiconductor and mitigates the detrimental effects of SrF2 without sacrificing its QWI benefits. The bilayer dielectric approach dramatically improved the dielectric-semiconductor interface quality. Fabricated high power semiconductor lasers demonstrated high quantum efficiency in the lasing region using the bilayer dielectric film during the intermixing process. Our results reveal that stress engineering in IFVD is essential and the thermal stress can be controlled by engineering the dielectric strain opening new perspectives for QWI of photonic devices.
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    Impurity-free quantum well intermixing for high-power laser diodes
    (2015-08) Kahraman, Abdullah
    The demand for ever higher powers and efficiencies from semiconductor lasers, continues. State-of-the-art high power lasers require not only sophisticated designs but also complex fabrication technologies to push the boundaries. A major obstacle to ever higher powers is catastrophic optical mirror damage that occurs at the mirrors of the cavity. Among several approaches to increase the threshold for damage, local manipulation of the band gap near the mirrors stands out, as it eliminates reabsorption. The structure of modern lasers employing quantum wells surrounded by large band gap and low index claddings gives the opportunity in intermix the quantum well and increase the effective band gap close to cavity edges during fabrication. The research presented in this thesis reports the results of Impurity-Free Vacancy Disordering (IFVD) of GaAs quantum wells in high power laser diode structures that leads to blue shifting of the effective band gap. In contrast with previous work, this study concentrates on actual large optical cavity (LOC) high power laser diode structures where the waveguide and cladding layers are thick. Using selective area QWI can be extremely beneficial in terms of enhancing catastrophic optical mirror damage (COMD) threshold, spatial mode instability, propagation losses and overheating which are the main limitations to fabricate HPLDs. In the course of the fabrication of HPLDs, the last and most problematic step is to manage QWI. IFVD was realized by capping the crystal surface with a sputtered dielectric layer of SiO2 to enhance intermixing and thermally evaporated SrF2 to prevent intermixing for selected parts of the laser cavity. Disordering the layers takes place by diffusion of Ga atoms from GaAs QW into sputtered SiO2 layer during rapid thermal annealing (RTA), leaving Ga vacancies in QW. It allows the Ga vacancy defects free to move AlxGa1 the photoluminescence peak. Relative composition in the layers that make up the laser structure was measured with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in conjunction with depth proling. A blue shift of 65 nm (154 meV) was achieved, in parallel with both Ga and Al diffusion in the laser structure.
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    ItemOpen Access
    Impurity-Free Quantum Well Intermixing For Large Optical Cavity High-Power Laser Diode Structures
    (Institute of Physics Publishing, 2016) Kahraman, A.; Gür, E.; Aydınlı, Atilla
    We report on the correlation of atomic concentration profiles of diffusing species with the blueshift of the quantum well luminescence from both as-grown and impurity free quantum wells intermixed on actual large optical cavity high power laser diode structures. Because it is critical to suppress catastrophic optical mirror damage, sputtered SiO2 and thermally evaporated SrF2 were used both to enhance and suppress quantum well intermixing, respectively, in these (Al)GaAs large optical cavity structures. A luminescence blueshift of 55 nm (130 meV) was obtained for samples with 400 nm thick sputtered SiO2These layers were used to generate point defects by annealing the samples at 950 °C for 3 min. The ensuing Ga diffusion observed as a shifting front towards the surface at the interface of the GaAs cap and AlGaAs cladding, as well as Al diffusion into the GaAs cap layer, correlates well with the observed luminescence blue shift, as determined by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Although this technique is well-known, the correlation between the photoluminescence peak blue shift and diffusion of Ga and Al during impurity free quantum well intermixing on actual large optical cavity laser diode structures was demonstrated with both x ray photoelectron and photoluminescence spectroscopy, for the first time.