Modelling the intermixing effects in highly strained asymmetric InGaAs/GaAs quantum well

TL;DR

This paper models the effects of indium surface segregation on interdiffusion in highly strained InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells, revealing how segregation influences emission energy shifts and intermixing behavior.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical model that accounts for composition profile changes due to indium segregation in quantum wells, enhancing understanding of interdiffusion effects.

Findings

Intermixing energy shift depends on segregation coefficients.

Higher segregation reduces interdiffusion-induced energy shifts.

Segregation effects significantly influence quantum well emission properties.

Abstract

In this work, we have theoretically investigated the intermixing effect in highly strained In$_{0.3}$Ga$_{0.7}$As/GaAs quantum well (QW) taking into consideration the composition profile change resulting from in-situ indium surface segregation. To study the impact of the segregation effects on the postgrowth intermixing, one dimensional steady state Schrodinger equation and Fick's second law of diffusion have been numerically solved by using the finite difference methods. The impact of the In/Ga interdiffusion on the QW emission energy is considered for different In segregation coefficients. Our results show that the intermixed QW emission energy is strongly dependent on the segregation effects. The interdiffusion enhanced energy shift is found to be considerably reduced for higher segregation coefficients. This work adds a considerable insight into the understanding and modelling of the effects of interdiffusion in semiconductor nanostructures.