Shift of the gap energy and thermal conductivity in BGaAs/GaAs alloys

Optical and thermal properties of BGaAs/GaAs alloys grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) have been studied using both photothermal deflection spectroscopy (PDS) and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). It is found that gap energy decrease when increasing the boron composition. Then, the difference between the measured values of gap energies from PDS and PL is linked to the band tails above the conduction band formed by boron clustering in this structure. Indeed, a decrease in thermal conductivity with increasing the boron composition have been also shown and discussed.