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Tunneling dynamics and transport in MBE-grown GaAs/AlGaAs asymmetric double quantum wells investigated via photoluminescence and terahertz time-domain spectroscopy

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Abstract

We study the transport of photogenerated carriers in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)-grown gallium arsenide/aluminum gallium arsenide (GaAs/AlGaAs) coupled (CDQW) and uncoupled (UDQW) double quantum wells. Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy was used to investigate the optical properties and establish differences in the tunneling properties between the CDQW and UDQW. Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) measurements have shown that the emissions from the CDQW and UDQW were \(57 \%\) and \(31\%\) of the THz emission of p-InAs, \({800}{\mathrm{nm}}\) excitation wavelength. The higher THz emission from the CDQW is attributed to the tunneling of electrons from the NW to the WW leading to a larger dipole moment. Furthermore, excitation wavelength-dependent THz-TDS measurements have shown that when the NW is not photoexcited, high-frequency components appear in the frequency spectra. These results provide insights on the possible development of DQWs as THz optoelectronic devices. It also demonstrates the application of THz-TDS in investigating tunneling dynamics in DQWs in conjunction with established optical characterization techniques, such as PL spectroscopy.

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Data supporting the study are available from the authors upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by the University of the Philippines Natural Sciences Research Institute Research Grant entitled “MBE thin film growth of RTD heterostructures” (Project Code: MSE-20-1-02).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Physics, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, 1101, Philippines

    Alexander De Los Reyes, Hannah Bardolaza, Neil Irvin Cabello, Armando Somintac, Arnel Salvador & Elmer Estacio

  2. Natural Sciences Research Institute, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, 1101, Philippines

    Alexander De Los Reyes, Elizabeth Ann Prieto, Lean Dasallas & Elmer Estacio

  3. Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, 1101, Philippines

    Elizabeth Ann Prieto, Lean Dasallas & Mae Agatha Tumanguil-Quitoras

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  1. Alexander De Los Reyes
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Contributions

Conceptualization: ADLR, EAP, LD, and EE. Methodology: ADLR, NIC, MATQ, HB, and AS. Data analysis: ADLR, EAP, LD, and EE. Manuscript preparation: ADLR, EAP, LD, HB, MATQ, NIC, AS, AS, and EE. Supervision: EP, LD, AS, AS, and EE. Funding: ADLR, EAP, and LD.

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Correspondence to Alexander De Los Reyes.

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De Los Reyes, A., Prieto, E.A., Dasallas, L. et al. Tunneling dynamics and transport in MBE-grown GaAs/AlGaAs asymmetric double quantum wells investigated via photoluminescence and terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 33, 16126–16135 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-022-08503-3

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