Self-organized quantum wires on patterned GaAs(311)A and on unpatterned GaAs(100)

The present work focuses on two types of quantum wire structures which were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). First, the sidewall quantum wires based on the selective growth on mesa stripe patterned GaAs(311)A are studied. Single stacked sidewall quantum wires with strong electronic coupling have been fabricated. p-i-n type LEDs of the quantum wires employing the amphoteric Si incorporation for pand n-type doping on GaAs(311)A have been fabricated. Strong selective carrier injection into the quantum wires is observed in electroluminescence (EL) measurements. The samples are characterized by micro-photoluminescence (μ-PL), cathodoluminescence (CL), as well as electron beam induced current (EBIC) measurements. To account for the highly selective EL, a model is proposed, which is based on the lateral diffusion of electrons and holes resulting in self-enhanced carrier injection into the quantum wires. Atomic hydrogen effects in the growth of (In,Ga)As on GaAs(311)A and its application to the sidewall quantum wire are investigated. It is found that atomic hydrogen suppresses island formation. Atomic hydrogen delays the relaxation by islanding thus playing the role of a surfactant. Second, the growth of (In,Ga)As layers on GaAs(100) is investigated showing that the formation of coherent 3D islands is a kinetically limited process. The transition from square-shaped islands to elongated islands is observed by changing the growth temperature for the growth of (In,Ga)As single layers. The elongation of the islands is a tradeoff between the surface free energy and the strain energy. A quantitative comparison between the experimental results and the theoretical work done by Tersoff and Tromp shows a good agreement. Self-organized quantum wires based on elongated discolation-free islands have been fabricated. The uniformity of the quantum wires is greatly improved by a superlattice growth scheme which also makes the wires much longer. The structural characterization of the quantum wires is performed by atomic force microscopy (AFM), x-ray diffractometry (XRD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The lateral carrier confinement in the quantum wires is confirmed by polarization dependent PL and magneto-PL measurements.