Effect of Ion Induced Damage on Carrier Lifetimes in Strained CdZnSe/ZnSe Quantum Wells

L.M. SPARING; A.M. MINTAIROV; J.H. HODAK; I.B. MARTINI; G.V. HARTLAND; U. BINDLEY; S. LEE; J.K. FURDYNA; J.L. MERZ; G.L. SNIDER

JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS

Año: 2000 vol. 87 p. 3063 - 3067

0021-8979

Studies of the effects of reactive ion etching on molecular beam epitaxy grown CdxZn1–xSe/ZnSe strained quantum wells (QWs) using photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved reflectivity measurements are reported. The shallow (50 nm cap layer) QW samples exhibit a blueshift in their PL peak position as a function of etch voltage up to a certain point, after which the blueshift is reduced. The reduction in the blueshift of the PL spectrum is strongly correlated with a reduction in the carrier lifetimes measured by transient reflectivity. From these experiments we suggest that the initial blueshift is a result of ion damage at the surface interacting with strain in the QW. On the other hand, the reduced carrier lifetime at higher voltages is a result of more severe structural damage in the QW.