Intermixing behavior in InGaAs/InGaAsP multiple quantum wells with dielectric and InGaAs cap** layers

Abstract.

The influence of the InGaAs cap** layer on the intermixing behavior of dielectric-capped In_0.53Ga_0.47 As/In_0.81Ga_0.19As_0.37P_0.63 multiple quantum wells (MQWs) was investigated by measuring the change in the photoluminescence spectra after rapid thermal annealing. The magnitude of the energy shift in the transition energy from the first electronic sub-band to the first heavy- and light-hole sub-bands of the MQWs is large when SiO₂ and InGaAs hybrid cap** layers are employed, but it is rather small when Si₃N₄ and InGaAs hybrid cap** layers are employed. This result indicates that the InGaAs cap** layer holds promise for applications involved in the fabrication of integrated photonic devices, but only when it is incorporated with the SiO₂ cap** layer. The reason why the InGaAs cap** layer behaves differently under the SiO₂ and Si₃N₄ cap** layers is also discussed.