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Rumyantsev VV, Razova AA, Bovkun LS, Tatarskiy DA, Mikhailovskii VY, Zholudev MS, Ikonnikov AV, Uaman Svetikova TA, Maremyanin KV, Utochkin VV, Fadeev MA, Remesnik VG, Aleshkin VY, Mikhailov NN, Dvoretsky SA, Potemski M, Orlita M, Gavrilenko VI, Morozov SV. Optical Studies and Transmission Electron Microscopy of HgCdTe Quantum Well Heterostructures for Very Long Wavelength Lasers. NANOMATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2021; 11:1855. [PMID: 34361241 PMCID: PMC8308432 DOI: 10.3390/nano11071855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2021] [Revised: 07/05/2021] [Accepted: 07/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
HgTe/CdHgTe quantum well (QW) heterostructures have attracted a lot of interest recently due to insights they provided towards the physics of topological insulators and massless Dirac fermions. Our work focuses on HgCdTe QWs with the energy spectrum close to the graphene-like relativistic dispersion that is supposed to suppress the non-radiative Auger recombination. We combine various methods such as photoconductivity, photoluminescence and magneto-optical measurements as well as transmission electron microscopy to retrofit growth parameters in multi-QW waveguide structures, designed for long wavelengths lasing in the range of 10-22 μm. The results reveal that the attainable operating temperatures and wavelengths are strongly dependent on Cd content in the QW, since it alters the dominating recombination mechanism of the carriers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vladimir V. Rumyantsev
- Institute for Physics of Microstructures of RAS, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia; (A.A.R.); (D.A.T.); (M.S.Z.); (K.V.M.); (V.V.U.); (M.A.F.); (V.Y.A.); (V.I.G.); (S.V.M.)
- Faculty of Radiophysics, Lobachevsky State University, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
| | - Anna A. Razova
- Institute for Physics of Microstructures of RAS, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia; (A.A.R.); (D.A.T.); (M.S.Z.); (K.V.M.); (V.V.U.); (M.A.F.); (V.Y.A.); (V.I.G.); (S.V.M.)
- Faculty of Radiophysics, Lobachevsky State University, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
| | - Leonid S. Bovkun
- LNCMI-EMFL, CNRS UPR3228, University Grenoble Alpes, University Toulouse, University Toulouse 3, INSA-T, 38042 Grenoble, France; (L.S.B.); (M.P.); (M.O.)
| | - Dmitriy A. Tatarskiy
- Institute for Physics of Microstructures of RAS, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia; (A.A.R.); (D.A.T.); (M.S.Z.); (K.V.M.); (V.V.U.); (M.A.F.); (V.Y.A.); (V.I.G.); (S.V.M.)
- Faculty of Physics, Lobachevsky State University, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
| | | | - Maksim S. Zholudev
- Institute for Physics of Microstructures of RAS, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia; (A.A.R.); (D.A.T.); (M.S.Z.); (K.V.M.); (V.V.U.); (M.A.F.); (V.Y.A.); (V.I.G.); (S.V.M.)
- Faculty of Radiophysics, Lobachevsky State University, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
| | - Anton V. Ikonnikov
- Faculty of Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia; (A.V.I.); (T.A.U.S.)
| | | | - Kirill V. Maremyanin
- Institute for Physics of Microstructures of RAS, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia; (A.A.R.); (D.A.T.); (M.S.Z.); (K.V.M.); (V.V.U.); (M.A.F.); (V.Y.A.); (V.I.G.); (S.V.M.)
- Faculty of Radiophysics, Lobachevsky State University, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
| | - Vladimir V. Utochkin
- Institute for Physics of Microstructures of RAS, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia; (A.A.R.); (D.A.T.); (M.S.Z.); (K.V.M.); (V.V.U.); (M.A.F.); (V.Y.A.); (V.I.G.); (S.V.M.)
| | - Mikhail A. Fadeev
- Institute for Physics of Microstructures of RAS, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia; (A.A.R.); (D.A.T.); (M.S.Z.); (K.V.M.); (V.V.U.); (M.A.F.); (V.Y.A.); (V.I.G.); (S.V.M.)
| | - Vladimir G. Remesnik
- Rzhanov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia; (V.G.R.); (N.N.M.); (S.A.D.)
| | - Vladimir Y. Aleshkin
- Institute for Physics of Microstructures of RAS, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia; (A.A.R.); (D.A.T.); (M.S.Z.); (K.V.M.); (V.V.U.); (M.A.F.); (V.Y.A.); (V.I.G.); (S.V.M.)
- Advanced School of General and Applied Physics, Lobachevsky State University, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
| | - Nikolay N. Mikhailov
- Rzhanov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia; (V.G.R.); (N.N.M.); (S.A.D.)
| | - Sergey A. Dvoretsky
- Rzhanov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia; (V.G.R.); (N.N.M.); (S.A.D.)
| | - Marek Potemski
- LNCMI-EMFL, CNRS UPR3228, University Grenoble Alpes, University Toulouse, University Toulouse 3, INSA-T, 38042 Grenoble, France; (L.S.B.); (M.P.); (M.O.)
| | - Milan Orlita
- LNCMI-EMFL, CNRS UPR3228, University Grenoble Alpes, University Toulouse, University Toulouse 3, INSA-T, 38042 Grenoble, France; (L.S.B.); (M.P.); (M.O.)
- Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Institute of Physics, Charles University, KeKarlovu 5, 121 16 Prague 2, Czech Republic
| | - Vladimir I. Gavrilenko
- Institute for Physics of Microstructures of RAS, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia; (A.A.R.); (D.A.T.); (M.S.Z.); (K.V.M.); (V.V.U.); (M.A.F.); (V.Y.A.); (V.I.G.); (S.V.M.)
- Advanced School of General and Applied Physics, Lobachevsky State University, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
| | - Sergey V. Morozov
- Institute for Physics of Microstructures of RAS, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia; (A.A.R.); (D.A.T.); (M.S.Z.); (K.V.M.); (V.V.U.); (M.A.F.); (V.Y.A.); (V.I.G.); (S.V.M.)
- Faculty of Radiophysics, Lobachevsky State University, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
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Ushakov D, Afonenko A, Khabibullin R, Ponomarev D, Aleshkin V, Morozov S, Dubinov A. HgCdTe-based quantum cascade lasers operating in the GaAs phonon Reststrahlen band predicted by the balance equation method. OPTICS EXPRESS 2020; 28:25371-25382. [PMID: 32907059 DOI: 10.1364/oe.398552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
The lack of radiation sources in the frequency range of 7-10 THz is associated with strong absorption of the THz waves on optical phonons within the GaAs Reststrahlen band. To avoid such absorption, we propose to use HgCdTe as an alternative material for THz quantum cascade lasers thanks to a lower phonon energy than in III-V semiconductors. In this work, HgCdTe-based quantum cascade lasers operating in the GaAs phonon Reststrahlen band with a target frequency of 8.3 THz have been theoretically investigated using the balance equation method. The optimized active region designs, which are based on three and two quantum wells, exhibit the peak gain exceeding 100 cm-1 at 150 K. We have analyzed the temperature dependence of the peak gain and predicted the maximum operating temperatures of 170 K and 225 K for three- and two-well designs, respectively. At temperatures exceeding 120 K, the better temperature performance has been obtained for the two-well design, which is associated with a larger spatial overlap of weakly localized lasing wavefunctions, as well as, a higher population inversion. We believe that the findings of this work can open a pathway towards the development of THz quantum cascade lasers featuring a high level of optical gain due to the low electron effective mass in HgCdTe.
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