Luminescence of III-IV-V thin film alloys grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

Abstract

III-IV-V heterovalent alloys have the potential to satisfy the need for infrared bandgap materials that also have lattice constants near GaAs. In this work, significant room temperature photoluminescence is reported for the first time in high quality III-IV-V alloys grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Pronounced phase separation, a characteristic suspected to quench luminescence in the alloys in the past, was successfully inhibited by a modified growth process. Small scale composition fluctuations were observed in the alloys; higher growth temperatures resulted in fluctuations with a striated morphology, while lower growth temperatures resulted in fluctuations with a speckled morphology. The composition fluctuations cause bandgap narrowing in the alloys - measurements of various compositions of (GaAs)[subscript 1-x] (Ge 2 )[subscript x] alloys reveal a maximum energy transition of 0.8 eV under 20% Ge composition rather than a continuously increasing transition with the decreasing Ge composition. Additionally, luminescence intensity decreased with the decreasing Ge composition. The alloys appear to act as a Ge-like solid penetrating a GaAs lattice, resulting in optical properties similar to those of Ge but with a direct-bandgap nature; a decrease in the Ge composition corresponds to a reduction in the light-emitting Ge-like material within the lattice. An energy transition larger than 0.8 eV was obtained through the addition of silicon to the (GaAs)[subscript 1-x](Ge 2 )[subscript x] alloy. The results indicate significant promise for III-IV-V alloys as potential materials for small bandgap optical devices with previously unachievable lattice constants.