Structure of heterointerfaces and photoluminescence properties of GaAs/AlAs superlattices grown on (311)A and (311)B surfaces: Comparative analysis

The photoluminescence properties of type II GaAs/AlAs superlattices grown on the (311) surface are determined by their polarity. Previous HRTEM investigations demonstrated a corrugation (with height of 1 nm and period of 3.2 nm) of both GaAs/AlAs and AlAs/GaAs interfaces in samples grown on the (311)A surface. In the present study, a lateral periodicity of 3.2 nm is also revealed in HRTEM images of a superlattice grown on the (311)B surface and in their Fourier transforms. However, this periodicity is poorly pronounced, which is due to fuzzy corrugation and the presence of a long-wavelength (>10 nm) disorder. Photoluminescence spectra of the GaAs/AlAs superlattice on the (311)A surface are strongly polarized relative to the direction of interface corrugation, in contrast to the (311)B superlattice, in which the corrugation is weakly pronounced. It was found that the strong mixing between the Θ and X minima of the conduction band, occurring only in sublattices with strongly corrugated interfaces, allows generation of bright red luminescence at 650 nm up to room temperature. The distinctions revealed between the superlattices grown on the (311)A and (311)B surfaces confirm that it is precisely the interface corrugation, and not crystallographic orientation, that governs the optical properties of (311) superlattices.