Original Paper(Vol.61 No.9 pp.771-776)

Self-Organization and Photoluminescence Properties of Pb1-xSnxTe Nanodots Embedded in a Wide Bandgap CdTe Matrix

Kazuto KOIKE, Yuuki NAKATA, Atsushi IWAMOTO and Mitsuaki YANO

Abstract:This paper describes molecular beam epitaxial growth and photoluminescence properties of single-crystalline Pb0.7Sn0.3Te nanodots embedded in a wide bandgap CdTe host matrix. These nanodots were self-organized by postgrowth annealing of a lattice-type mismatched Pb0.7Sn0.3Te(rocksalt)/CdTe(zincblende) single quantum well. A highly efficient midinfrared emission in the 3`5m atmospheric window was observed from the nanodots even at higher temperatures than 300 K. By considering both effects of strain-induced band deformation and quantum confinement in nanodot potentials, the emission energy observed was found to agree with the theoretical transition energy in the type I quantum well.

Key Words:PbTe, SnTe, Pb1-xSnxTe, Self-organized nanodots, Molecular beam epitaxy, Photoluminescence