Determination of band offsets in AlGaAs/GaAs and InGaAs/GaAs multiple quantum

wells
G. Ji, D. Huang, U. K. Reddy, H. Unlu, T. S. Henderson, and H. Morkoç

Citation: Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B 5, 1346 (1987); doi: 10.1116/1.583613
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 Determination of band offsets in AIGaAs/GaAs and InGaAs/GaAs multiple
quantum wells
G. Ji, D. Huang, U. K. Reddy, H. Unlu, T. S. Henderson, and H. Morko9
Coordinated Science Laboratory. University of Illinois at Urbana. Urbana, Illinois 61801

(Received 4 May 1987; accepted 6 July 1987)

The determination of valence band offsets Qv by fitting the optical transmission spectra for
AlxGal_xAs/GaAs and InyGal_yAs/GaAs multiple quantum wells (MQWs) is discussed.
The valence band offset Qv is defined as Qv = !1EJ(A.Ev + !1Ec )' where A.Ev and A.Ec are the
valence and conduction band discontinuities at the heterojunction. For AI" Gal _" As/GaAs
(Type I for both heavy holes and light holes, i.e., electrons, heavy holes, and light holes are located
in the same layers) the energy separation I1E between the first light and heavy hole subbands in
the valence band is used to determine the valence-band offset Qv' In order to improve the
precision, MQWs with narrow well widths and higher Al mole fraction x should be used. Further,
the inclusion of coupling between the valence and conduction subbands in Kane's three-band
model is also essential. However, Q" is still not determined uniquely by the above energy
difference !1E. Different combinations of Qv and heavy hole effective masses m hh in GaAs can
lead to the same AB. The forbidden transition E13h in a narrow well can be used to identify the
actual values of m hh and Qu' [The designation E nmh (/) refers to the energy separation of the nth
conduction subband and mth heavy (light) hole subband.] Following such a procedure, we find
thatQv = 0.33 and m hh = 0.34m o for AI"Gal_xAs/GaAsMQWs (x <0.37). For InyGal_yAs
MQWs (Type I for heavy holes and Type II for light holes, i.e., both electrons and heavy holes are
located in the same layers, but the light holes are in different layers), the transition energies
between the conduction subbands and the light hole valence subbands are much better parameters
to determine the band offsets in comparison with the transitions involving the heavy holes. Both
the optical measurements and the calculations including the strain effect show that EllI between
the first conduction subband and -the first light hole valence subband in the MQWs with wider
well widths is a sensitive enough parameter to determine the band offsets. By comparing with the
optical measurements we obtained Quh = 0.30 and Qui = - 0.23 (Type II) (for 0.13 <y <0.19)
for the heavy hole and light hole valence band offsets, respectively.

I. INTRODUCTION et al.13 measured the absorption spectra in

The edges of the valence and conduction bands are discon-
tinuous across a heterojunction interface. The valence and
conduction band offset Qv and Qc are defined as Qv
= ABu/(aEu +!1Ec ) and Qc = 1 - Qu where aEu and
AEc are the valence and conduction band discontinuities at
the heterojunction. The band offsets are important param-
eters in device design and in understanding the physical
properties of heterojunction structures. They will influence
the carrier transport properties both along and across the
heterojunctions. Although various theoretical approaches
have been formulated to calculate the band offsets, there is
not yet a good agreement among these approaches. I-tO The
band discontinuities depend on both intrinsic and extrinsic
characteristics of the two semiconductors forming the heter-
oj unction. Lattice constants, band gaps, structural defects,
chemical impurities, interface bonds between heterogeneous
species, and the lattice distortion at the interface are a few
microscopic factors which can influence the band offset.
The determination of Qv in multiple quantum wells
(MQWs) experimentally is still a controversial subject. A
few methods, including photoemission spectroscopy, I I ca-
pacitance-voltage (C- V) techniques,12 optical transition
measurements,13 and charge-transfer methods 14 are used.
Excellent reviews can be found in Refs. 15 and 16. Dingle
Alo.2 Gao.s As/GaAs quantum well heterostructures. By fit-
ting the data with calculations in a simple square-well ap-
proximation assuming parabolic bands and the same effec-
tive mass for particles both inside and outside the well, they
concluded that Q" = 0.12. Since the samples they used had
well widths in the range of 70--500 A, the calculated transi-
tion energies are insensitive to the choice of Qu' Besides, the
heavy hole mass they used, m hh = 0.45 m o, where mo is the
free electron mass, is larger than the commonly used cyclo-
tron resonance mass, m hh = 0.403 mo 17 and the parameters
given by Miller et al. for the heavy hole mass m hh = 0.34
m o. 18 This leads to a smaller Qv as we will discuss later.
Therefore, Dingle's result has been recently questioned.
Miller and co-workers studied "parabolic" quantum wells, 18
where parabolic compositional profiles were generated by
alternate deposition of thin undoped layers of GaAs and
Alx Gal _ x As of varying thickness, and obtained Qv = 0.43
atx = 0.3 with the above mass parameters. Use of parabolic
wells increases the sensitivity to the offset but the lack of
control of Al flux during growth means that a parabolic po-
tential profile has to be synthesized by systematic and precise
adjustment of alloy and binary widths during deposition.
Dawson et al. 19 studied 5 K PLE spectra from narrow (55
A) GaAs quantum wells in order to maximize the sensitivity
in determining Qv' Including electron nonparabolicity in

1346 J. Vac. Sci. Techno.. B 5 (5). Sep/Oct 1987 0734-211X/87/051346-07$01.00 © 1987 American Vacuum SoCiety 1346

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1347 JI et al.: Determination of band offsets In AIGaAs/GaAs
Bastard's envelope function approximation 20 with light hole
mass mlh = 0.087 mo and heavy hole mass m hh = 0.403 mo.
they obtained Qv = 0.25. But they pointed out the failure of
using their derived offsets and well widths to predict the
optical subband transitions in their 65 Asample. Identifica-
tion of the Em peak [the designation E nmh (/) refers to the
energy separation of the nth conduction subband and mth
heavy (light) hole subband] in the narrow well (56.6 A) led
Duggan et al. 21 to reappraise the band offset. With mlh
= 0.094 m o, and m hh = 0.34 m o , they concluded Qv = 0.35.
Recently, Shum et al. 15 examined the energy separation
(IlE) between the heavy hole and light hole subbands as a
function of the well width. For narrow well width IlE was
found to be sensitive to the choice of Qu' With the commonly
used effective mass values mlh = 0.087 mo and m hh = 0.403
m o, they concluded that Dingle's result with Q" = 0.12 is
still correct. Such a continuing disagreement in the literature
about the band offset in the AIGaAs/GaAs system led us to
undertake the present study. In the first part of this paper we
have considered all the factors including the nonparabolicity
of energy bands, mole fraction x, well width L z , effective
mass m hh and m lh in determination of the band offset in
AIGaAs/GaAs MQWs.
Recently, strained semiconductor heterojunctions have
been receiving a great deal of attention since the large lattice
mismatches accommodated by elastic deformation have
opened rich perspectives for modern materials science. Spe-
cifically, InGaAs/GaAs MQWs have received much atten-
tion due to their potential in electronics and optoelectron-
ics. 22 We have grown a series ofInGaAs/GaAs layers with
different In mole fractions and well widths L z • The calcula-
tions including both the strain and quantum size effects are
compared with transmission measurements. The valence
band offset for heavy holes Q"h was obtained by fitting these
experimental data. The band offset for light holes Qui was
also' determined in the above fitting procedure. We found
that the transition E III involving the first light hole and the
first conduction subbands is sensitive to the choice of Qvh
since the light holes are located in the barrier region. From
the measured EIII transition energies, Quh is relatively easily
determined. The details are discussed in the second part of
this paper.
II. BAND OFFSET IN Al x Ga 1 _ x As/GaAs MaWs
Because the spin-orbit splitting is not large compared with
the energy gaps of the host materials, we used Bastard's
three-band method to calculate the subband energies. 20 For
a single quantum well (Lb = (0), the energy difference
IlE = Ell/ - Ellh as a function of well width L z with differ-
ent mole fractions x (x = 0.2 and 0.37) and band offsets Qv
(Qv = 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4) was calculated. We chose mlh
= 0.18 m o, m hh = 0.85 mo for AIAs24 and min = 0.087 m o,
mhn = 00403 mo for GaAs, 17 and a linear interpolation was
made for Alx Gal _ x As. The calculated IlE vs L z are shown
in Fig. 1. It can be seen that Qv is sensitive to the choice of
well width L z • Generally, L z = 20-80 A should be used to
determine Qv more precisely. For a certain L z ' larger mole
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1347
50~----------------------------------,
40
;;
E 30
w
<l
________L -_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
0~ ~ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _J -_ _ _ _ ~
50 100 150
FIG. 1. The energy difference AE = EIII - Ellh vs well widths L, for differ·
ent band offset Q,. and mole fraction x in a AI. Gal _ x As-GaAs single quan-
tum well. mlh = 0.087 mo and mhh = 0.403 mo are used for GaAs, and m lh
= O. I 8 mo and m •• = 0.85 mo for AlAs. A linear interpolation is used for
Al.Gal _.As. Curve 1 - Q" = 0.2, x = 0.2; curve 2 - Q,. = 0.3, x = 0.2;
curve 3 - Q, = 0.2, x = 0.37; curve 4 - Qv = 0.3, x = 0.37; curve 5 - Q,.
= 0.4, x = 0.37.
fraction x in AI" Gal _" As will lead to a better determina-
tion of Qv' Thus, in order to determine Qv precisely, narrow
wells with higher x values should be used. But the interface
fluctuation will become important for a narrow quantum
well, which introduces additional uncertainty in determin-
ing the valence band offset Qv'
If the subband energy En is close enough to the band edge,
the parabolic approximation can be used, where a constant
effective mass is introduced for a certain band, which is inde-
pendent of the subband energy En. In such a limitation Bas-
tard's method approaches the standard Kronig-Penney
model 23 with appropriate effective masses for different
bands. The parabolic approximation of Bastard's method,
neglecting the coupling between the conduction band and
the valence bands, will yield the same result as the Kronig-
Penney model. Furthermore, if the barrier width is larger
than about 100 A, the coupling between the adjacent wells in
a multiple quantum well can also be neglected. In this case
the Kronig-Penney model can be easily studied by using a
single quantum well. A simple quantum mechanical calcula-
tion leads to the following dispersion relation:
m ) 1/2 (1 _ 0: ) 1/2
tan(unP 12) = ( _z n, (1)
mb Un
where
P = L z (2 Vm z ) 1/2/",
and
u! = En IV,
and m z and mb are the effective mass of electrons in the well
and barrier regions, respectively, L z is the well width, and V
is the depth of well. The nth quantum energy level is denoted
byEn'
But, in the sensitive region discussed above (narrow well
width and large mole fraction x), Eq. (1) will introduce a
very large error compared with Bastard's three-band model.
Figure 2 shows the difference 8E = (/lE)PARA - (IlEhband
as a function of L z for different Qv and mole fraction x.
 1348 Ji et al.: Determination of band offsets In AIGaAs/GaAs 1348

30
(0 )
0
Z
<t 20
III
0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50
w'"
<I '> CI)
1 E
<t
II:
~
w
<I

W"
! 2°l
'-0
(c)

w 10
<3 L-__~~'~__~'~__~'~__~~'~__-Jl~_______
o 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50
FIG. 2. The difference AE = (AE)"ARA - (AE) ,...,oj vs well widths L, for
different band offset Q,. and mole fraction x in a AI, Ga, ,As/GaAs single

~:[~ ~~,~1_-_-~2~~~-~1~"~ ~I~ ~,~

quantum well. The effective masses of the heavy and light holes are the same
as used in Fig. I, curve 1 - Q,. = 0.2, x = 0.2; curve 2 - Q,. = 0.3, x = 0.2;
curve 3 - Q, = 0.2, x = 0.37; curve 4 - Q,. = 0.3, x = 0.37; curve 5 - Q,.
= 0.4, x = 0.37. __ ____ __ __ (d__)_
___

0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50

(ft.E) PARA is ft.E = E 111 - Ell h calculated using the para-

bolic approximation, and (1lE) 3band is IlE obtained from
Bastard's three-band model. The peak locations in Fig. 2 are FIG. 3. The comparison of calculated tJ..E = EIII - Ell. vs the band offset
at roughly the same place as those in Fig. 1. The deviation bE Q,. for a AI, Ga, ,As/GaAs MQWs with different well widths. Solid lines
also increases with increasing Q,. and mole fraction x. It represent the results from the three-band model.and dashed lines are calcu-
lated from Eq. (1). mi. = 0.18 mo and m •• = 0.85 mo are used for AlAs.
shows the error introduced if Eq. (1) is used instead of the
Two sets of effective masses are used for GaAs. I - m'h = 0.087 mo and
more exact Bastard's three-band formula. Dingle et al. B m .. = 0.403 mo; 2 - mi. = 0.094 m" and m •• = 0.34 mo:
used quantum wells with wider widths and in this situation (a) L, = 42 A L. = 00 period = 1 x = 0.37 AE = 28.5 meV";
the parabolic approximation is good. However, since their (b) L, =56.6 A L. = 170 A period=60 x=0.36 AE=21 meV";
well widths fall in the region where !:!E is insensitive to Q" in (e) L, = 81 A L. = 205 A period = 81 x = 0.30 AE = 14 meV'·;
Fig. I, the Q" value so determined can not be very accurate. (d) L, = 102 A L. = 205 A period = 78 x = 0.30 AE = 11.5 meV'".
On the contrary, if a narrow well width is used to determine
Qt., the well width is located in a sensitive region. But the
parabolic approximation is a poor approximation for a nar- m hh = 0.403 rn o,17 and rn 1h = 0.094 rna, rn hh = 0.34 rna 18
row well and the coupling between the conduction and va- for comparison. All the parameters and the references are
lence bands should be taken into account atS shown in Fig. 2. listed in Table I. The plots of IlE vs Qv calculated from the
In order to show this effect more explicitly we compared two methods are shown in Fig. 3 for the two sets of rn Ih , rn hh •
the values of Qt' determined from Bastard's three-band mod- From the data listed in Table I it is found that the differ-
el with those from the parabolic approximation, as given in ence in Qt' determined from the two methods can be as large
Eq. ( I ). The well thickness L z was varied from 42 to 102 A, as 0.11. If different rn Ih' rn hh are used, the discrepancy can be
and two sets of effective masses were used, m 1h = 0.087 rna, as high as 0.15. The parabolic approximation always gives a

T ABLE I. The parameters used in calculation and the resultant Q,. determined from AE in AI, Ga, ,As/GaAs QW.

L z (A) Ln (A) Period x AE (meY) mlhlmo m •• lm o Q.'.PARA Q.\Jband Ref.

0.087 0.403 0.22 0.28

42 Of] 0.37 28.5 25
0.094 0.34 0.26 0.37

56.6 170 60 0.36 21 0.087 0.403 0.20 0.24

0.094 21
0.34 0.23 0.31
0.087 0.403 0.20 0.23
81 205 81 0.30 14 26
0.094 0.34 0.26 0.30
0.087 0.403 0.19 0.23
102 205 78 0.30 11.5
0.094 26
0.34 0.27 0.30

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 1349 Ji et III.: Determination of band offsets In AIGaAs/GaAs
smaller Qu value. It partly accounts for the discrepancy in
values of Qu claimed by different authors. Generally. the use
of a smaller m hh yields a larger Qu value. and vice versa. But
these two Qu values give rise to the same f:.E. In other words.
Qv is not uniquely determined by f:.E. It also depends on the
choice of the effective masses. From the data listed in Table I
the three samples with L z between 56.6 and 102 A always
give very close Qu values. But for a narrow well (L z = 42 A)
the value of Qu so derived is higher. It might come from an
inaccurate determination of well width in a narrow quantum
well (QW).
Some of the light and heavy hole effective masses reported
in the literature are m lh = 0.094 mo and m hh = 0.34 mo.18
mlh = 0.087 mo and mh h = 0.403 mo. 17 mlh = 0.082 mo and
mhh = 0.45 mo,27 m lh = 0.087 mo and m hh = 0.48 mo.27 m lh
= 0.087 mo and m hh = 0.62 m o. 29 The heavy hole masses
range from 0.34 to 0.62 mo. but the spread in light hole
masses is small. We have used m lh = 0.087 mo for the sam-
ple 21 with L z = 56.6 A. x = 0.36. f:.E = 21 meV. The heavy
hole mass mhh is chosen as a variable in our calculation.
Different choices of mhh lead to a different value of Qu' The
plot ofQu vs mhh is shown in Fig. 4. With increasing mhh Qu
decreases from 0.28 (m hh = 0.34 mo) to 0.18 (mh h = 0.62
mo)' This raises a question: What effective mass m hh should
be used to obtain a correct Qu?
Recently. the transition Em has been identified in the
excitation spectra of quantum wells as narrow as L = 56.6
A.21 It gives an independent criterion to choose hh and :n
determine Qv' For different well widths L z and related pa-
rameters listed in Table I we calculated the critical band
offset values Qvo (to be defined shortly) as a function ofmhh
for different L z values. Qvo is defined as the lower limit ofQv
where the third heavy hole subband exists. The results are
shown in Fig. 5 with m 1h = 0.087 mo' For example. for a
sample with L z = 56.6 A when mhh = 0.403 mo is used. Qu
should be at least 0.26 in order that the third heavy hole
subband exists. It is obvious that the existence of EI3h is not
0.30
o>
0.20
L z = 56.6 J!.
0 . 1 0 = - - - - - : ' - : : - - -_ _....1...._ _ _ _"""--_ _-1
0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60
FIG. 4. The Q. detennined from AE = EIII - EII~ vs the different choices
of m M used in the calculation of a AI. Gal _ • As/GaAs MQWs. The three-
band model is used in calculation. The effective mass oflight holes is chosen
to be m lh = 0.087 mo. The experimental data are L, = 56.6 A, La = 170 A,
period = 60, X = 0.36, AE= 21 meV. 21
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1349
0.30
0.20
o
> (al L z=56.6'&
o
0.10
0.30 0.60
FIG. 5. The minimum of band offset, Qo.O' which is required to observe the
Em transition vs the different choices of effective masses of heavy holes
m .. for a Al.Gal_.As/GaAs MQW. The three-band model is used in
calculation with ml~ = 0.087 mo fixed:
(a) L, = 56.6 A LB = 170 A period = 60 x = 0.36 t.E = 21 meV";
(b) L, = 81 A L. = 205 A period = 81 x = 0.30 t.E = 14 meV";
(e) L, = \02 A LB =205 A period = 78 x=0.30 t.E= 11.5 me V'".
very useful in the determination of Qu with a wider QW but it
is crucial for a narrow QW. Thus, the observation of Em
transition in a QW with well width less than 56.6 A would
increase the lower limit of Qv from 0.26 to a higher value. On
the contrary. if the Em transition does not exist in this nar-
row QW. an upper limit of Qu will be established. Therefore.
we have two criteria to choose m hh and determine Qv' One
way is to fit the energy separation !l.E = E III - E Ilh' and the
other is to observe the t~ansition Em. For example. for the
sample with L z = 56.6 A we have determined Qv = 0.31 for
m 1h = 0.094 mo. m hh = 0.34 mo. or Qu = 0.24 for m lh
= 0.087 mo. m hh = 0.403 mo from f:.E = EIII - EII/r. as
shown in Table I. Besides. since the Em transition has been
observed in this sample. the band offset should be Qv>Qve
= 0.33 for m lh = 0.094 mo, m hh = 0.34 mo. or Qu >Qve
= 0.27 for mlh = 0.087 mo. mh h = 0.403 mo' The Qv values
determined from the existence of E13/r transition are 0.02-
0.03 larger than those determined from !l.E. Since the bind-
ing energy of light holes is 1-2 meV larger than that of the
heavy holes/ 5 (the same binding energy is assumed for the
transitions EIII and EIlh in the calculations of f:.E). the dis-
crepancies are understandable. Taking this effect into ac-
count. the correction to Qvis about 0.02. The corrected Qu
val ues ar~ also closer to the value obtained in the sample with
L z = 42 A QW (Qu = 0.37 for m 1h = 0.094 mo. mlr/r = 0.34
mo or Qv = 0.28 for m 1h = 0.087 mo. m hlr = 0.403 mo)'
In order to determine Qv uniquely, all the transitions in-
cluding E I3h should be taken into accoun 1. We have used two
sets of effective masses (m/h = 0.087 mo. mlr/r = 0.403 mo.
and m lh = 0.094 m o, m hh = 0.34 mo) in our calculation. The
well widths range from 56.6 to 102 A. and Bastard's three-
band model is used. The calculated results and the experi-
mental data are listed in Table II. From Table II it can be
seen that the two sets of effective masses with corresponding
Qv lead to roughly the same values for most transitions
 1350 JI et Ill: Determination of band offsets In AIGaAs/GaAs 1350

TABLE II. The comparison of the calculated and measured transition energies for different choice of Q" and effective masses in AI, Ga, _ x As/GaAs QW.

L z (A) 56.6 65 71 81 102

L8 (A) 170 170 170 207 207
x 0.36 0.36 0.26 0.30 0.30
m"lm" 0.0870.094 0.0870.094 0.0870.094 0.0870.094 0.0870.094
mhhlmo 0.4030.340 0.4030.340 0.4030.340 0.4030.340 0.4030.340
Q,. 0.270.33 0.27 0.33 0.270.33 0.270.33 0.270.33
Ellh calc 1604 1604 15861587 1572 1572 1563 1564 1548 1548
(meV) expo 1612 1595 1581 1559 1547
E"h calc. 18321833 1783 1784 17291730 17061707 1653 1655
(meV) expo 1832 1789 1733 1697 1655
E'II calc. 1627 1626 16061607 15881588 1579 1579 1560 1559
(meV) expo 1634 1616 1597 1573 1558
E2lI calc. 18881884 18391835 17751773 \753 1751 16941692
(meV) expo 1900 1851
El3h calc. 17091732 1680 1699 16451660 1630 1643 15951604
(meV) expo 1746 1700 1642 1608
Ref. 21 21 19 26 26

Ennh(l) . But the transition energies EDh are enormously dif- Figure 7 shows the valence band edge splitting when
ferent. The agreement between measured Em transition en- strain is introduced in both the host materials in InGaAsl
ergies and calculated ones using Q" = 0.33, mlh = 0.094 m o, GaAs MQWs grown on a GaAs buffer. We have
m hh = 0.34 mo is much better than that using Q" = 0.27, mlh b.E"H = E~B - E~A - Vs - b.E1/2,
= 0.087 m o, mI./, = 0.403 m o, even though both sets of pa-
rameters predict the same b.E. Therefore, we believe that the b.Ec = Vs - AEt, (2)
choiceofQv = 0.33 and mlh = 0.094m o' m hh = 0. 34m oisa b.EvL = E~B - E~ - Vs + b.E112,
more dependable result. where b.Ec' b.E VH' and b.E VL are the strain dependent band
discontinuities for the conduction band, heavy hole valence
band and light hole valence band, respectively. V, is the con-
duction band discontinuity before the strain effect is intro-
1II.lny Ga 1 _ y As/GaAs MaWs duced. E ~A and E ~B are the band gaps of the host materials,
In the InGaAs/GaAs MQWs it has been shown that the InGaAs and GaAs. b.E t(B) and b.E ~(B) are the shifts of the
light and heavy holes are located in different regions of the
heterostructure. 3o The heavy holes and electrons are in the
InGaAs well, but the light holes are in the GaAs barrier. If
the well width and the barrier width are both large enough,
the electrons in the conduction subbands and the light holes 1.50
,
in the valence subbands can not form excitons due to the
small overlap between the respective wave functions. 31 But
"\',"
\'

we can still observe the steplike band-to-band transitions in \', "

\, ,
0.2 \ " ,
absorption if the well and barrier widths are not very large.
Following similar arguments made for AIGaAs/GaAs
, ,.....
" "--. .....
1.45
,'....... ......,--
......

MQWs we used the three-band model to calculate the sub-

band transition energies. The details of the calculation can >
" -..
...... -
....... ..... ...... --- --- 0.4

be found in Ref. 31. The barrier widths are 200 A, and the
Q)

w
'......
.......
'........ --- ---
.... .... _ 0.3

well widths range from 20 to 200 A. The In mole fractiony is

chosen to be 0.15 since larger y values will introduce disloca-
<I
lAO
-- --- ---
......... __ 0.2

tions due to the larger lattice mismatch between InGaAs and

GaAs. In Fig. 6 the Ellh subband transition energy is shown
as a function of well width L z for Qvh = 0.2,0.3,0.4, respec-
tively. It can be seen that Em is sensitive to QVh only for
about L z < 40 A, which is similar to the behavior of Ellh in
AIGaAs/GaAs MQWs. But E,l/ shows an entirely different
behavior. First, E\1I is more sensitive to Quh than E llh • Sec-
ondly, the wider the well width, the more sensitive the Ell/ FIG. 6. Subband energies vs well widthsL. for In,Ga. _ ,As/GaAs MQWs.
transition is to the choice of Q"h' It allows us to determine Solid lines represent E' lh transitions and dashed lines represent E •• , transi-
Qvh more precisely and more easily than in AIGaAs/GaAs tions. The band offset of heavy holes, Q". = 0.2,0.3,0.4 are used, respective-
MQWs. ly, in calculation. The X represent the experimental data.

J. Vac. Sci. Techno!. B, Vol. 5, No.5, Sep/Oct 1987

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1351 JI tit sl.: Determination of band offsets In AIGaAs/GaAs 1351

B A B measurements, the best fit to the experimentally obtained

EIII transition energy was achieved when QuI: = 0.30 as
r-- shown in Fig. 6. The corresponding light hole band offset Qui
= - 0.23 is calculated from Eqs. (2) and (3). From Fig. 6,
it is obvious that EIII is very sensitive to the choice of Quh'
d Therefore, we believe that Quh determined in this way lies
Vs within 0.30 ± 0.02.
---
A
'-- ----c IV. CONCLUSIONS
0 ............... H-H
EllA -·_·-L-H In summary, we have demonstrated the sensitivity of mole
1 fraction x and well width L z in determining the valence band

--.. . . ~.E~
I Il2ldE: I I
]
0 offset Qu of AIGaAs/GaAs from the energy separation
r~~
-
FIG. 7. The energy band configuration for an A-B quantum well growing on
a buffer ofthe third material D. Both A and B are strained. In this figure we
present the compressive strain effect on both materials A and B. Solid lines
denote the band edge without the strain effect. Dashed lines represent the
conduction band edge after the strain effect is introduced. The dotted lines
and dash-dotted lines denote the band edges of heavy hole and light hole
valence bands, respectively, including the strain effect.
energy gap E ~A (E ~B) due to the hydrostatic and shear
components of the strain in the well (A ) and barrier(B) re-
spectively. We denoted InGaAs by superscript "A" and
GaAs by "B," and assumed AE ~ = 0, AE ~ = 0 since there
is no strain in the GaAs barrier. From Eq. (2) the band
offsets are defined as
Quh = AEuHI(AEuH + AEc )'
(3)
Qui = AEuLI(AEuL + AEc)·
The measured data are compared with calculations and
results are presented in Table III. We have used Marzin's
revision of Bastard's method to calculate the subband ener-
gies. 31 The optical transmission measurements were per-
formed to obtain the subband transition energies experimen-
tally. The details are discussed elsewhere. 31 Using the
valence band offset Qvh as an adjustable parameter to fit the
AE=EIII-Ellh' In the sensitive region (small L z and
large x) Bastard's three-band model taking into account the
coupling between the conduction sub band, valence and
split-off valence subbands is essential in extracting the Qu
value. We have shown that the difference AE = E11I - Ellh
can not determine Qu uniquely. Different combinations of
Qu and effective masses m lh , m hh will lead to the same AE.
The existence of Em transition in narrow wells can help
screen out the incorrect combinations. Using the EI3h transi-
tion energies, we found that the choice of Quh = 0.33 with
m lh = 0.094 mo, and m hh = 0.34 mo gives the best agree-
ment with available measurements. We believe that all the
features discussed above are also appropriate in determining
the band offset of other MQWs where both the electrons and
holes possess Type I behavior.
In the strained layer InGaAs/GaAs MQWs the situation
is different. The transition EIII between the electrons in the
first conduction subband and the first light hole subband is
very sensitive to the choice of Quh' Using a wider well width
will improve the sensitivity in determining Quh' but decrease
the E11I signal strength. A good compromise is the use of
intermediate well widths which can give a strong signal in-
tensity from the E11I transition as well as good sensitivity in
determining Quh' Thus, we have obtained Qvh = 0.30 and
Qui = - 0.23 for InGaAs/GaAs MQWs with In mole frac-
tion y ranging from 0.13-0.19. That Qvh is sensitive to the
transition E11I is a common characteristic when the light
holes possess Type II behavior. It will be useful to determine
Q"h for MQWs other than InGaAs/GaAs.

TABLE III. The comparison between the transmission measurements at T = 4 K and calculations for Iny Gal _ yAs/GaAs MQWs.

Lz (A) 85 159 213 85 106

LB (A) 200 200 200 200 200
Y 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.193 0.130
Qv' 0.297 0.296 0.296 0.301 0.302
Qvl - 0.234 - 0.235 - 0.234 - 0.235 -0.219
Elih calc. 1.3761 1.3618 1.3511 1.3372 1.3933
(eV) expo 1.3747 1.3604 1.3500 1.3334 1.3917
Ell. calc. 1.4661 1.4058 ).3811 1.4342 1.4613
(eV) expo 1.4726 1.4059 1.3785 1.4393 1.4683
E". calc. 1.4638 1.4261
(eV) expo 1.4665 1.4293
EII/ calc. 1.4340 1.4200 1.4110 1.4080 1.4450
(eV) expo 1.4393 1.4179 1.4147 1.4115 1.4440

J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B, Vol. 5, No.5, Sep/Oct 1987

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 1352 Ji el sl.: Determination of band offsets in AIGaAs/GaAs
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors wish to thank P. Carlson for manuscript
preparation. This research was supported by grants from
AFOSR, DOE-MRL, and NOR.
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