JPH0693528B2 - Semiconductor superlattice - Google Patents
Semiconductor superlatticeInfo
- Publication number
- JPH0693528B2 JPH0693528B2 JP62031257A JP3125787A JPH0693528B2 JP H0693528 B2 JPH0693528 B2 JP H0693528B2 JP 62031257 A JP62031257 A JP 62031257A JP 3125787 A JP3125787 A JP 3125787A JP H0693528 B2 JPH0693528 B2 JP H0693528B2
- Authority
- JP
- Japan
- Prior art keywords
- quantum
- quantum well
- layer
- semiconductor
- well box
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Lifetime
Links
- 239000003362 semiconductor superlattice Substances 0.000 title claims description 9
- 230000004888 barrier function Effects 0.000 claims description 29
- 239000004065 semiconductor Substances 0.000 claims description 18
- 238000005381 potential energy Methods 0.000 claims description 9
- 239000010410 layer Substances 0.000 description 29
- 229910001218 Gallium arsenide Inorganic materials 0.000 description 5
- 239000000969 carrier Substances 0.000 description 5
- 230000010355 oscillation Effects 0.000 description 5
- 238000005253 cladding Methods 0.000 description 3
- 239000013078 crystal Substances 0.000 description 3
- 239000000758 substrate Substances 0.000 description 3
- 238000002109 crystal growth method Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000006798 recombination Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000005215 recombination Methods 0.000 description 2
- 229910000980 Aluminium gallium arsenide Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 238000010894 electron beam technology Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000005530 etching Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000001914 filtration Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000002347 injection Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000007924 injection Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000010884 ion-beam technique Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000002356 single layer Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000001228 spectrum Methods 0.000 description 1
Landscapes
- Semiconductor Lasers (AREA)
Description
【発明の詳細な説明】 （産業上の利用分野） この発明は、半導体レーザ等に用いられる半導体超格子
に関する。The present invention relates to a semiconductor superlattice used for a semiconductor laser or the like.
（従来の技術） 従来提案された半導体超格子として第３図に断面図で示
すような量子井戸箱構造が広く知られている。箱状の量
子井戸領域31と、これをとり囲む量子障壁領域32とから
構成されており、量子井戸領域31に閉じ込められた電子
または正孔は擬０次元状態となり、高性能な半導体レー
ザなどへの応用が考えられる。(Prior Art) As a conventionally proposed semiconductor superlattice, a quantum well box structure shown in a sectional view in FIG. 3 is widely known. It is composed of a box-shaped quantum well region 31 and a quantum barrier region 32 that surrounds the quantum well region 31. Electrons or holes confined in the quantum well region 31 are in a pseudo zero-dimensional state, which is suitable for high-performance semiconductor lasers. Can be applied.
（発明が解決しようとする問題点） しかしながら、このような量子井戸箱構造では、量子井
戸領域31に電子及び正孔を効率的に注入することができ
ず、電流注入による半導体レーザ発振を行なうことがで
きないという欠点を有していた。(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in such a quantum well box structure, electrons and holes cannot be efficiently injected into the quantum well region 31, and semiconductor laser oscillation is performed by current injection. It had the drawback of not being able to.
本発明の目的は、この問題点を解決し、半導体レーザ等
へ応用できる半導体超格子を提供することにある。An object of the present invention is to solve this problem and provide a semiconductor superlattice applicable to a semiconductor laser or the like.
（問題点を解決するための手段） 前述の問題点を解決するために本発明が提供する半導体
超格子は、太さが電子のドブロイ波長程度（数10nm）の
半導体からなる量子井戸箱を少なくとも１つ以上有し、
前記量子井戸箱を囲み、厚さが電子のドブロイ波長程度
である層状の第１量子障壁領域を少なくとも１つ以上有
し、前記第１量子障壁領域の上面および下面に隣接して
少なくとも２つ以上の第２量子障壁層を有し、前記第１
量子障壁領域のポテンシャルエネルギーが前記量子井戸
箱のポテンシャルエネルギーよりも高く、また前記第２
量子障壁層のポテンシャルエネルギーが前記第１量子障
壁層のポテンシャルエネルギーよりも高いことを特徴と
する。(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the semiconductor superlattice provided by the present invention has at least a quantum well box made of a semiconductor having a de Broglie wavelength of an electron (tens of nm). Have one or more,
At least one layered first quantum barrier region surrounding the quantum well box and having a thickness of about de Broglie wavelength of electrons is provided, and at least two or more layers are adjacent to the upper surface and the lower surface of the first quantum barrier region. The second quantum barrier layer of the
The potential energy of the quantum barrier region is higher than the potential energy of the quantum well box, and
The potential energy of the quantum barrier layer is higher than the potential energy of the first quantum barrier layer.
（作用） 上述の構造の半導体超格子では、第２障壁層から第１障
壁領域に注入されたキャリアは第２障壁層のポテンシャ
ルによって第１障壁領域内に量子力学的に閉じ込められ
た状態となる。このキャリアはバンド内で緩和してい
き、量子井戸箱へと注入されていく。このため、量子井
戸箱での正孔及び電子の密度を高く保つことができ、ま
た量子井戸箱内でキャリアが３次元的に閉じ込められて
いるから、キャリアの再結合が効率よく行なえる。この
ような超格子を半導体レーザの活性層に用いれば、レー
ザ発振閾値電流は非常に小さな値となる。(Operation) In the semiconductor superlattice having the above-mentioned structure, the carriers injected from the second barrier layer into the first barrier region are quantum mechanically confined in the first barrier region by the potential of the second barrier layer. . This carrier relaxes in the band and is injected into the quantum well box. Therefore, the density of holes and electrons in the quantum well box can be kept high, and the carriers are three-dimensionally confined in the quantum well box, so that the recombination of carriers can be efficiently performed. If such a superlattice is used for the active layer of a semiconductor laser, the laser oscillation threshold current becomes a very small value.
（実施例） 次に図面を参照して本発明の実施例について説明する。(Example) Next, the Example of this invention is described with reference to drawings.
第１図は本発明の一実施例の半導体超格子を活性層に用
いた半導体レーザを示す断面図である。この半導体レー
ザはｎ形GaAsからなる半導体基板10上にｎ形GaAsからな
るバッファー層11、ｎ形Al0.7Ga0.3Asからなるｎ形クラ
ッド層（厚さ１μｍ）12、Al0.4Ga0.6Asからなる第２量
子障壁層（厚さ0.1μｍ）13a,13b、Al0.25Ga0.75Asから
なる第１量子障壁領域（厚さ30nm）14、GaAsからなる量
子井戸箱（厚さ10nm,縦30nm,横30nm）15、ｐ形Al0.7Ga
0.3Asからなるｐ形クラッド層（厚さ１μｍ）16、ｐ形G
aAsからなるキャップ層17、及びｐ電極18、ｎ電極19を
形成した構造となっている。FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a semiconductor laser using a semiconductor superlattice according to an embodiment of the present invention as an active layer. This semiconductor laser comprises a buffer layer 11 made of n-type GaAs, an n-type clad layer (thickness 1 μm) 12 made of n-type Al 0.7 Ga 0.3 As, and Al 0.4 Ga 0.6 As on a semiconductor substrate 10 made of n-type GaAs. Second quantum barrier layer (thickness 0.1 μm) 13a, 13b, first quantum barrier region (thickness 30 nm) 14 made of Al 0.25 Ga 0.75 As, quantum well box made of GaAs (thickness 10 nm, length 30 nm, width 30 nm) ) 15, p-type Al 0.7 Ga
P-type clad layer (thickness 1 μm) consisting of 0.3 As 16, p-type G
The structure is such that the cap layer 17 made of aAs, the p electrode 18, and the n electrode 19 are formed.
半導体結晶成長は、分子線結晶成長法により行なった。
半導体基板10上に、バッファー層11,n形クラッド層12,
第２量子障壁層13a,第１量子障壁領域14を形成し、この
半導体層構造上に厚さ10nmのGaAs層を結晶成長し、次に
電子ビームろ光法及びイオンビームエッチング法によ
り、GaAs層を直方体状にエッチングし、量子井戸箱15を
形成した。再び分子線結晶成長法により、第１量子障壁
領域14,第２量子障壁層13b,p形クラッド層16,キャップ
層17を結晶成長し、最後にｐ電極18及びｎ電極19を形成
した。The semiconductor crystal growth was performed by the molecular beam crystal growth method.
On the semiconductor substrate 10, the buffer layer 11, the n-type clad layer 12,
The second quantum barrier layer 13a and the first quantum barrier region 14 are formed, a GaAs layer having a thickness of 10 nm is crystal-grown on the semiconductor layer structure, and then the GaAs layer is formed by electron beam filtering and ion beam etching. Was etched into a rectangular parallelepiped shape to form a quantum well box 15. The first quantum barrier region 14, the second quantum barrier layer 13b, the p-type cladding layer 16 and the cap layer 17 were crystal-grown again by the molecular beam crystal growth method, and finally the p-electrode 18 and the n-electrode 19 were formed.
ｐ電極18,n電極19からそれぞれ注入された正孔及び電子
は、第２量子障壁層13a,13bから第１量子障壁領域14に
注入され、第１量子障壁領域14内に閉じ込められるが、
量子井戸箱15のポテンシャルエネルギーが低いから、量
子井戸箱15に流れ込む。量子井戸箱15では正孔及び電子
とも３次元的に閉じ込められ、擬０次元状態となってい
るから、それぞれの状態密度は狭いエネルギー領域に集
中しており、その再結合スペクトルは非常に狭い。そこ
で、第１図の構造では、全てのキャリアがレーザ発振に
有効に寄与し、発振閾値電流の非常に小さな半導体レー
ザが得られる。The holes and electrons respectively injected from the p-electrode 18 and the n-electrode 19 are injected into the first quantum barrier region 14 from the second quantum barrier layers 13a and 13b and are confined in the first quantum barrier region 14.
Since the quantum well box 15 has a low potential energy, it flows into the quantum well box 15. Since holes and electrons are three-dimensionally confined in the quantum well box 15 and are in a quasi-zero-dimensional state, the respective state densities are concentrated in a narrow energy region, and the recombination spectrum thereof is very narrow. Therefore, in the structure of FIG. 1, all carriers effectively contribute to laser oscillation, and a semiconductor laser having an extremely small oscillation threshold current can be obtained.
なお、本実施例ではAlGaAs系混晶を用いたが、これに限
らず他の半導体混晶を用いても本発明は実現できる。Although the AlGaAs-based mixed crystal is used in this embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can be realized by using another semiconductor mixed crystal.
また上述の実施例では単層の量子井戸構造を用いたが、
本発明はこれに限らず多層構造の量子井戸構造としても
実施できる。Further, although the single-layer quantum well structure is used in the above-mentioned embodiment,
The present invention is not limited to this, and can be implemented as a quantum well structure having a multilayer structure.
また、上述の実施例の超格子は半導体レーザの活性層と
して用いたが、本発明の超格子は共鳴トンネルトランジ
スタ等その他のデバイスにも用い得る。Further, although the superlattice of the above-mentioned embodiment is used as the active layer of the semiconductor laser, the superlattice of the present invention can be used for other devices such as a resonance tunnel transistor.
（発明の効果） このように本発明によれば、量子井戸箱にキャリアを有
効に注入でき、発振閾値が小さい高性能な半導体レーザ
やその他の電子デバイスに用い得る半導体超格子を得る
ことができる。(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to effectively inject carriers into the quantum well box and obtain a semiconductor superlattice that can be used for a high-performance semiconductor laser having a small oscillation threshold and other electronic devices. .
第１図は本発明の一実施例を示す断面図、第２図はこの
実施例に用いる超格子構造を示す斜視図、第３図は従来
の量子井戸箱を示す断面図である。 10…半導体基板、11…バッファー層、12…ｎ形クラッド
層、13a,13b…第２量子障壁層、14…第１量子障壁領
域、15…量子井戸箱、16…ｐ形クラッド層、17…キャッ
プ層、18…ｐ電極、19…ｎ電極、31…量子井戸領域、32
…量子障壁領域。FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a superlattice structure used in this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a conventional quantum well box. 10 ... Semiconductor substrate, 11 ... Buffer layer, 12 ... N-type cladding layer, 13a, 13b ... Second quantum barrier layer, 14 ... First quantum barrier region, 15 ... Quantum well box, 16 ... P-type cladding layer, 17 ... Cap layer, 18 ... P electrode, 19 ... N electrode, 31 ... Quantum well region, 32
… Quantum barrier region.
Claims (1)
らなる量子井戸箱を少なくとも１つ以上有し、前記量子
井戸箱を囲み、厚さが電子のドブロイ波長程度である層
状の第１量子障壁領域を少なくとも１つ以上有し、前記
第１量子障壁領域の上面および下面に隣接して少なくと
も２つ以上の第２量子障壁層を有し、前記第１量子障壁
領域のポテンシャルエネルギーが前記量子井戸箱のポテ
ンシャルエネルギーよりも高く、また前記第２量子障壁
層のポテンシャルエネルギーが前記第１量子障壁層のポ
テンシャルエネルギーよりも高いことを特徴とする半導
体超格子。1. A layered first quantum having at least one quantum well box made of a semiconductor whose thickness is about the de Broglie wavelength of electrons, surrounding said quantum well box and having a thickness of about the de Broglie wavelength of electrons. At least one barrier region, and at least two or more second quantum barrier layers adjacent to the upper surface and the lower surface of the first quantum barrier region, wherein the potential energy of the first quantum barrier region is the quantum. A semiconductor superlattice characterized in that it is higher than the potential energy of the well box and the potential energy of the second quantum barrier layer is higher than the potential energy of the first quantum barrier layer.
Priority Applications (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| JP62031257A JPH0693528B2 (en) | 1987-02-13 | 1987-02-13 | Semiconductor superlattice |
| US07/127,015 US4802181A (en) | 1986-11-27 | 1987-11-27 | Semiconductor superlattice light emitting sevice |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| JP62031257A JPH0693528B2 (en) | 1987-02-13 | 1987-02-13 | Semiconductor superlattice |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| JPS63198391A JPS63198391A (en) | 1988-08-17 |
| JPH0693528B2 true JPH0693528B2 (en) | 1994-11-16 |
Family
ID=12326299
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| JP62031257A Expired - Lifetime JPH0693528B2 (en) | 1986-11-27 | 1987-02-13 | Semiconductor superlattice |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| JP (1) | JPH0693528B2 (en) |
Family Cites Families (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPS60250684A (en) * | 1984-05-25 | 1985-12-11 | Nec Corp | Manufacture of 3-dimensional quantum well semiconductor laser |
-
1987
- 1987-02-13 JP JP62031257A patent/JPH0693528B2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| JPS63198391A (en) | 1988-08-17 |
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