Patent Application: US-84720204-A

Abstract:
a polarization modulation photoreflectance technique has been developed for optical characterization of semiconductor quantum confined structures . by using a tunable laser source in conjunction with polarization state modulation , a single beam modulation spectroscopy technique may be used to characterize the optical response of semiconductor materials and structures . disclosed methods and instruments are suitable for characterization of optical signatures of quantum electronic confinement , including resolution of excitonic states at the band edge or other direct or indirect critical points in the band structure . this allows for characterization of semiconductor quantum well structures , for characterization of strain in semiconductor films , and for characterization of electric fields at semiconductor interfaces .

Description:
the following discusses use of the inventive polarization modulation photoreflectance ( pmpr ) technique for characterization of quantum well structures . it is understood that the pmpr technique of the present drawings may be used to analyze any quantum confined structure , the discussion of quantum well structures considered to be exemplary only and in no way limiting in scope . turning now descriptively to the drawings , in which similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views , fig1 contains , in an exaggerated view , an exemplary quantum well test structure that may be characterized using the polarization modulation photo - reflectance technique of the present disclosure . quantum well test structure , which may be grown using molecular beam epitaxy , comprises a negatively doped gallium arsenide ( gaas ) semiconductor substrate upon which is grown an negatively doped aluminum gallium arsenide ( algaas ) “ spacer ” layer of ˜ 94 . 5 nanometer thickness . an undoped barrier layer comprising algaas is grown on the spacer layer . then a multiple quantum well section comprising a number of periods of gaas quantum wells and algaas barrier layers is grown on the first barrier layer . in an exemplary embodiment , individual quantum wells may comprise a thickness of approximately 7 . 4 nanometers , and barriers may comprise a thickness of approximately 7 . 4 nanometers . a second confinement layer is grown on the multiple quantum well section . quantum well test structure further comprises an additional algaas spacer layer of approximately 94 . 5 nanometer thickness , followed by a thin gaas capping layer . in accordance with the arrangement of the present disclosure as shown in fig2 polarization modulation photo - reflectance may be used to measure the reflected spectra from quantum well test structure , or any other quantum confined device structure , in order to characterize the properties the quantum confined structure , and importantly , establish the energy of optical transitions in quantum confined structure , establish the form of the dielectric function in the vicinity of said optical transitions , and profile the excitonic states in the vicinity of said optical transitions . quantum confinement is known to enhance excitonic features , often making them visible at room temperature ( miller , 1982 ). by introducing the laser beam at a non - zero angle of incidence with respect to the quantum well layers , a component of polarization perpendicular to the plane of the quantum well layers is realized . this polarization cannot be achieved by light incident normally onto the sample , and shows different selection rules . in particular , for polarization components perpendicular to the quantum well layers , the “ heavy - hole ” excitonic absorption strength is transferred to the nearby “ light - hole ” absorption ( weiner , 1985 ). as shown in fig2 polarization modulation photo - reflectance arrangement comprises a tunable diode laser , a laser controller , an electro - optic ( eo ) phase modulator with a function generator , an optical system , a sample , a photoreceiver , a signal conditioner , and a computer with measurement and system control software . the laser diode is an external cavity tunable laser diode with center wavelength of approximately 844 nm and tunable range of approximately 20 nanometers . laser embodiments include external cavity tunable diode lasers emitting in the uv - nir wavelength range ( 200 - 1700 nm ). the laser power is approximately 15 mw . however , laser embodiments include lasers operating at powers of approximately 5 mw or above . the laser controller is a programmable power source compatible with the laser diode and may be controlled by the computer . the laser beam is directed into the electro - optic ( eo ) phase modulator where its polarization state is modulated . in an exemplary embodiment phase modulator has a resonant frequency of approximately 20 mhz and is driven sinusoidally by an external function generator . the phase modulator will typically operate at or above 1 mhz and may be driven by an external function generator . embodiments also include broadband phase modulation , including dc bias operation . once the laser beam exits from the phase modulator , it may have a small “ residual amplitude modulation ” induced by the phase modulator . the phase modulator design minimizes residual amplitude modulation . however , any residual amplitude modulation produces a constant or sloping background which may be removed . the polarization modulated laser beam is then focused onto the sample surface at an angle of incidence of approximately 45 °. the optical system comprises various optical elements including focusing and collimation lenses , and mirrors . all optical elements are matched to the laser source wavelength . once the laser beam is reflected from the sample surface , it has sources of amplitude modulation at the modulation frequency from the difference in reflectivity due to the polarization state change , including any polarization induced anisotropy in the semiconductor optical response , and any residual amplitude modulation . the reflected beam is collected and focused onto the photodiode . fig3 shows the polarization state of the laser beam as it passes through the optical system . as an exemplary mode of operation , the unmodulated laser beam is directed onto the sample with polarization parallel to the plane of incidence , also known as “ p ” polarization . the phase modulator then places a portion of the incident intensity into the polarization perpendicular to the plane of incidence , also known as “ s ” polarization , at the modulation frequency . the intensity of the “ p ” polarized light may be written : i p = i o ( 1 − m ) r p + mi o r p cos ( ω t ), where r s and r p are the reflectivities of the “ s ” and “ p ” polarized light , respectively , m is the amplitude of the sinusoidal intensity modulation of either polarization channel , and ω is the modulation frequency . the laser beam contains the sum of these intensities which may be written : i p + i s = i o r p − mi o ( r p − r s )+ mi o ( r p − r s ) cos ( ω t ). this is of the form i o [ r − δr + δrcos ( ωt )], where δr ≡ m ( r s − r p ). also , the respective intensities may be split onto separate beams by the use of a polarizing beamsplitting cube , and the laser beams containing either polarization state then directed into a photoreceiver comprising two photodiodes connected through a subtraction circuit . the photoreceiver output then contains an electrical current proportional to the difference in these intensities , which may be written : i p − i s = i o r p − mi o ( r p + r s )+ mi o ( r p + r p ) cos ( ω t ). this is again of the form i o [ r − δr + δrcos ( ωt )], where δr is now δr ≡ m ( r s + r p ). [ 0031 ] fig4 contains the block diagram of the electrical signals in the polarization modulation apparatus . the dc signal from the photoreceiver is proportional to i o [ r − δr ], while the ac signal is proportional to i o δr . in order to measure δr / r , the laser intensity i o must be eliminated . this is accomplished by dividing the ac signal by the dc photocurrent . this normalized ac signal is proportional to δr / r + o ( δr / r ) 2 . in an exemplary case where the polarization modulation is small , r ≅ r p , then δr / r may be written δr / r ≅ m ( r s / r p + 1 ). now , letting r s → r s + δr s , and r p → r p + δr p , where δr s and δr p now refer to the induced changes in semiconductor optical response for the “ s ” and “ p ” polarization , respectively , δr / r becomes δ r / r ≅ m ( r s / r p + 1 )+ mr s / r p ( δ r s / r s + δr p / r p ). the first term is proportional to the sum of the linear “ s ” and “ p ” channel reflectivities . the information contained in this term is equivalent to the information contained in conventional ellipsometric data and may be used to determine filmstack parameters such as film thickness . typically , over the wavelength interval of tunable laser , this first term produces a slowly varying background , of magnitude on the order of 10 − 1 . this term may be eliminated from δr / r , revealing the second , derivative - like term , which is due to the induced due changes in semiconductor optical response . these are the well - known photo - reflectance spectra ( aspnes , 1980 ; shay , 1970 ). typical values of the photo - reflectance signal from semiconductor quantum confined structures range in amplitude from ˜ 10 − 2 - 10 − 5 ( pollack , 1994 ), with spectral widths typically ≦ 10 mev at room temperature ( weiner 1985 ; shay 1970 ). the signal conditioner records the photoreceiver output . the computer controls the laser wavelength and intensity and records the measurement photocurrents . thus δr / r is recorded as a function of laser wavelength and intensity . embodiments include alterations to the arrangement which do not alter the fundamental polarization modulation photo - reflectance signal . embodiments also include any configurations where the photoreceiver ac signal contains a photo - reflectance signal due changes in sample semiconductor optical response induced by the change in pump beam polarization state . as used herein , the photoreflectance signal is photo - induced changes in the semiconductor optical response , and the linear reflectance signal is the difference in the linear reflectivity of the “ s ” and “ p ” components of polarization . the underlying principle of the polarization modulation photo - reflectivity technique is to characterize the photo - reflectance spectra associated with semiconductor quantum confined structures , and to derive critical point parameters associated with quantum confined structures such as excitonic resonance energies and spectral widths . critical point parameters generally characterize the “ active ” electronic properties of quantum confined structures . excitonic features are enhanced in the presence of quantum confinement and characterize the splitting of the “ light - hole ” and “ heavy - hole ” excitons associated with quantum confinement or strain . as is well known , the photoreflectance spectrum is proportional to the derivative of the dielectric function . the dielectric function of critical point and excitonic resonance features may be written : ε ( e , γ )= a exp { i φ }/( e − eg + i γ ) n , where e is the photon energy , a is the oscillator amplitude , φ is the phase projection , eg is the oscillator energy , γ is the broadening , and n is an exponent which characterizes the dimensionality of the resonance ( aspnes , 1980 ). due to the dependence of excitonic optical response on input polarization , amplitude analysis may be used to quantify anisotropies in the polarization modulation photo - reflectivity technique . however , the oscillator energy , eg , and the spectral width , γ , are the primary parameters of interest . excitonic resonances are typically 4 - 6 mev in spectral width , and often remain unbroadened at room temperature . both eg and γ may be determined simply from the lineshape of δr / r itself ( aspnes , 1980 ). the amplitude , broadening , and position of excitonic absorptions are strongly influenced by internal fields generated by photo - excited carriers . fig5 . illustrates photo - reflectance data from quantum well test structure exposed to a series of polarization modulation photoreflectivity wavelength scans at laser powers of 3 mw , 6 mw , 9 mw , and 12 mw . the linear reflectance background has been removed using a polynomial fit . the data is scaled with increasing laser power and curves are included to guide the eye . in these scans , the pmpr spectra shows derivative structure at “ heavy - hole ” and “ light - hole ” excitonic positions . this feature of polarization modulation photoreflectivity also makes it ideal for the characterization of strain , since the major effect of uniaxial stress is to shift and split the excitonic features . each curve is analyzed using the lineshape of δr / r ( aspnes , 1980 ), which reveals a redshift of the excitonic energy eg as laser intensity is increased . excitonic positions derived from this data are shown in fig6 . the excitonic widths are essentially independent of laser intensity . the total redshift for either the light hole or the heavy hole is approximately 5 mev . for quantum well test structure , excitonic redshifts of approximately 1 mev per 6 kv / cm internal electric field are expected . this shift is due to space - charge separation of photo - excited carriers . thus , the observed shifts are indicative of internal electric fields approximately 30 kv / cm in magnitude . such fields can also be directly measured by photo - reflectance using the above bandgap franz - keldysh oscillations ( gray , 2001 ; seraphin , 1965 ). however , the polarization modulation photoreflectivity technique provides a means to determine interfacial electric fields from line - shape analysis . thus , this disclosure is suitable for the characterization of the polarization modulated photo - reflectance as a function of laser intensity and laser wavelength . a tunable diode laser provides the optical intensity needed to induce changes in the optical response of semiconductor quantum confined structures due to space - charge separation of electrons and holes . the laser controller provides intensity and wavelength control for the tunable laser diode . the computer may program laser scans via interface to the laser controller . the eo phase modulator modulates the polarization state of the laser beam at approximately 20 mhz . an external function generator is used to provide drive current to the electro - optic modulator . the phase modulated laser beam is then focused onto the semiconductor sample structure . reflected light is collected and directed onto a photoreceiver . the photoreceiver provides , as output , an ac signal proportional to the sum or difference of sample “ s ” and “ p ” reflectivities . the photoreceiver ac signal is normalized by the dc photocurrent . the ac signal is provided to the signal conditioner , which performs bandwidth limited detection at the eo modulation frequency . the conditioned signal is then passed to the computer , which stores δr / r as a function of laser parameters . the linear reflectivity contribution to the ac signal is removed by a fit to the slowly varying linear reflectivity background . thus , the polarization modulated photo - reflectance arrangement characterizes the polarization modulated photo - reflectance signal as a function of laser intensity and laser wavelength . as to a further discussion of the manner of usage and operation of the present disclosure , the same should be apparent from the above description . accordingly , no further discussion relating to the manner of usage and operation will be provided . with respect to the above description then , it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the disclosure , to include variations in size , materials , shape , form , function and manner of operation , assembly and use , are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art , and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present disclosure . therefore , the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure . further , since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art , it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described , and accordingly , all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to , falling within the scope of the disclosure . 6 , 195 , 166 february 2001 gray 356 / 477 4 , 931 , 132 june 1990 aspnes 156 / 601 3 , 982 , 207 march 1975 dingle 331 / 94 . 5 “ photomodulated reflectance study of ingaas / gaas / alas microcavity vertical - 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