STUDY OF TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENT HYDROGENATION ON NEAR-SURFACE STRAINED QUANTUM-WELLS

The incorporation of hydrogen by ion-gun irradiation into near-surface and deeply embedded In0.13Ga0.87As/GaAs strained quantum wells (QWs) has been studied by photoluminescence spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Degradation in the free exciton luminescence and the appearance of hydrogen-related shallow or deep states have been observed within the near-surface QW after hydrogenation. This effect is more pronounced, the higher the hydrogen dose. In contrast, the deeply embedded QW is only slightly affected by the hydrogenation process even at high substrate temperature and hydrogen ion dose. TEM reveals hydrogen-induced plateletlike structure in the vicinity of the near-surface QW and of the GaAs buffer layer/GaAs substrate interface after room temperature and high temperature (250-degrees-C) hydrogenation, respectively, which ascertain the extension and nature of the hydrogen-enriched regions throughout the whole material structure.