Optical characterization of a GaAsSb/GaAs/GaAsP strain-compensated quantum well structure grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy

Optical properties of a strained GaAs0.64Sb0.36/GaAs and a strain-compensated GaAs0.64Sb0.36/GaAs/GaAs0.79P0.21 triple quantum well (TQW) structures were investigated by photoluminescence (PL), photoreflectance (PR) and surface photovoltage spectroscopy (SPS). The samples were grown on GaAs(100) substrates by a horizontal metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) system. For GaAs0.64Sb0.36/GaAs TQW, a large blueshift of the peak position of PL feature at low temperature with increasing excitation power density and only a very weak PR feature observed in the vicinity of fundamental transitions and were attributed to a weakly type-II heterojunction formed between GaAs0.64Sb0.36 and GaAs. On the other hand, the PR and SPS spectra of GaAs0.64Sb0.36/GaAs/GaAs0.79P0.21 TQW showed a series of intersubband originated transition features, which is a typical characteristic of type-I QW structure. The results revealed that the energy band of QW structures is significantly influenced by the inserted tensile GaAsP layers, which changes the weakly type-II to a type-I structure. The strain-compensated GaAs0.64Sb0.36/GaAs/GaAs0.79P0.21 TQW has a larger overlap integral and hence a higher transition probability, providing a possibility for fabricating high efficiency near infrared laser diodes.

► Optical study of strained GaAs0.64Sb0.36/GaAs QW structures.
► PL, PR and SPV spectra show type-II characteristic of strained GaAsSb/GaAs QW.
► Optical study of strain-compensated GaAs0.64Sb0.36/GaAs/GaAsxP1−x QW structures.
► PR and SPV spectra reveal type-I characteristic of GaAsSb/GaAs/GaAsP QW.
► Band alignment of QW is changed by inserting GaAsP layers in GaAsSb/GaAs QW structures.