Comparative study of photoluminescence for type-I InAs/GaAs0.89Sb0.11 and type-II InAs/GaAs0.85Sb0.15 quantum dots

Abstract InAs quantum dots (QDs) sandwiched inside a GaAsSb matrix possess advantages for achieving telecom wavelength lasers and for developing high efficiency solar cells. In this work, optical properties of InAs quantum dots (QDs) capped by GaAs1-xSbx (x = 0.11 and 0.15) are comparatively investigated. The photoluminescence measurements reflect that the energy state filling, thermal activation, quenching, and lifetime of the carriers in InAs/GaAs0.89Sb0.11 QDs are different from those in the InAs/GaAs0.85Sb0.15 QDs. These differences are attributed to the band alignment transition from type-I to type-II resulting from the Sb-composition change from x = 0.11 to x = 0.15 in the GaAs1-xSbx capping layer. Therefore, the emission and quenching involve excited states for type-I InAs/GaAs0.85Sb0.15 QDs, but involve InAs QDs as well as the GaAs0.85Sb0.15 QW recombination for type-II InAs/GaAs0.85Sb0.15 QDs. So the luminescence reveals complex and distinct physics mechanisms for these two samples.