Studies of the electron spectrum in structures with InGaN quantum dots using photocurrent spectroscopy

Abstract

Structures with InGaN/GaN quantum dots have been studied using photocurrent spectroscopy. The dynamic range of measurements is found to amount to four orders of magnitude under preservation of the signal-to-noise ratio at a level higher than ten. Within the experimental accuracy, the shape of the spectrum is independent of an applied reverse external bias, whereas the spectrum itself shifts to shorter wavelengths, which is attributed to the Franz-Keldysh effect. Variation of the temperature brings about a change in the spectrum shape. This effect is found to be different for structures grown under different conditions. This behavior can be attributed to homogeneous broadening of the electronic states, the statistics of charge carriers at the levels of quantum dots, and the effect of temperature on the position of these levels.