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The paper presents a theoretical study of the modulation instability of a continuous or quasicontinuous optical probe in a three level quantum well system under electromagnetically induced transparency. The modulation instability is affected by the control field detuning, as well as even-order dispersion and by the strength of Kerr (third-order) and quintic (fifth-order) nonlinearities. The fourth-order dispersion reduces the bandwidth over which modulation instability occurs, whereas the quintic nonlinearity saturates the growth of the modulation instability. Detuning the control field from resonance can significantly reduce the growth of the modulation instability at both low and high power levels. At low powers, the system becomes stable against modulation instability for small detuning of the control field and at high powers modulation instability disappears for larger detuning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperature-dependent measurements of carrier recombination rates using a time-resolved optical pump-probe technique are reported for mid-wave infrared InAs/InAs1–xSbx type-2 superlattices (T2SLs). By engineering the layer widths and alloy compositions, a 16K band-gap of ~235±10 meV was achieved for five unintentionally and four intentionally doped T2SLs. Carrier lifetimes were determined by fitting lifetime models based on Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH), radiative, and Auger recombination processes to the temperature and excess carrier density dependent data. The minority carrier (MC), radiative, and Auger lifetimes were observed to generally increase with increasing antimony content and decreasing layer thickness for the unintentionally doped T2SLs. The MC lifetime is limited by SRH processes at temperatures below 200K in the unintentionally doped T2SLs. The extracted SRH defect energy levels were found to be near mid-bandgap. Also, it is observed that the MC lifetime is limited by Auger recombination in the intentionally doped T2SLs with doping levels greater than n~1016 cm–3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of post growth annealing on the electrical properties of a long wavelength infrared type-II superlattice (SL) was explored. Quarters of a single SL wafer were annealed at 440 °C, 480 °C, and 515 °C, respectively for 30 min. Changes in the electrical properties were followed using spectral photoconductivity, temperature dependent Hall effect, and time-resolved pump-probe measurements. The bandgap energy remained at ∼107 meV for each anneal, and the photoresponse spectra showed a 25% improvement. The carrier lifetime increased from 12 to ∼15 ns with annealing. The electron mobility was nearly constant for the 440 °C and 480 °C anneals, and increased from ∼4500 to 6300 cm2/Vs for the 515 °C anneal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minority carrier lifetimes in very long wavelength infrared (VLWIR) InAs/GaInSb superlattices (SLs) are reported using time-resolved microwave reflectance measurements. A strain-balanced ternary SL absorber layer of 47.0 Å InAs/21.5 Å Ga0.75In0.25Sb, corresponding to a bandgap of ~50 meV, is found to have a minority carrier lifetime of 140±20 ns at ~18 K. This lifetime is extraordinarily long, when compared to lifetime values previously reported for other VLWIR SL detector materials. This enhancement is attributed to the strain-engineered ternary design, which offers a variety of epitaxial advantages and ultimately leads to a reduction of defect-mediated recombination centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurements of carrier recombination rates using a time-resolved pump-probe technique are reported for mid-wave infrared InAs/InAs1-xSbx type-2 superlattices (T2SLs). By engineering the layer widths and alloy compositions, a 16K band-gap of ~235¯10meV was achieved for all five unintentionally doped T2SLs. Carrier lifetimes were determined by fitting a rate equation model to the density dependent data. Minority carrier lifetimes as long as 10 µs were measured. On the other hand, the Auger rates for all the InAs/InAsSb T2SLs were significantly larger than those previously measured for InAs/GaSb T2SLs. The minority carrier and Auger lifetimes were observed to generally increase with increasing antimony content and decreasing layer thickness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minority carrier lifetimes in doped and undoped mid-wave infrared InAs/InAsSb type-II superlattices (T2SLs) and InAsSb alloys were measured from 77-300 K. The lifetimes were analyzed using Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH), radiative, and Auger recombination, allowing the contributions of the various recombination mechanisms to be distinguished and the dominant mechanisms identified. For the T2SLs, SRH recombination is the dominant mechanism. Defect levels with energies of 130 meV and 70 meV are determined for the undoped and doped T2SLs, respectively. The alloy lifetimes are limited by radiative and Auger recombination through the entire temperature range, with SRH not making a significant contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time-resolved differential transmission measurements were used to investigate vertical charge carrier transport in mid-wave infrared InAs/GaSb type-II superlattices (T2SLs). By optically generating excess carriers near one end of the mid-wave T2SL and measuring the transit time to a thin, lower-bandgap T2SL at the other end, the time-of-flight of vertically diffusing carriers was measured. Through investigation of both unintentionally doped and p-type T2SLs, the vertical hole and electron diffusion coefficients were measured to be 0.04 ± 0.03 cm2/s and 4.7 ± 0.5 cm2/s, corresponding to vertical mobilities of 6 ± 5 cm2/Vs and 700 ± 80 cm2/Vs, respectively, at a temperature of 77 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]