Transition of carrier distribution from a strained to relaxed state in InGaAs/GaAs quantum well

Abstract

This work investigates the transition of carrier distribution from the strained to the relaxed state in In0.2Ga0.8As/GaAs quantum well by measuring capacitance voltage and analyzing x-ray diffraction. According to those results, there is carrier confinement in the In0.2Ga0.8As quantum well with well thickness less than the critical thickness. Increasing the well thickness beyond the critical thickness leads to a significant carrier depletion around the quantum well. Double-crystal x-ray rocking curves reveal that when InGaAs well thickness increases beyond the critical thickness, the interference pattern disappears and relaxation begins to occur from near the bottom InGaAs/GaAs interface while the top interface still remains strained. Results obtained from the critical thickness determined from x-ray diffraction correspond to the transition of carrier distribution, illustrating that the capacitance-voltage measurement is a rather effective means of determining the critical thickness. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(99)01505-4].