ALBERT

Notes: Measurements of the linear absorption and the nonlinear absorption due to the bleaching of the excitonic resonance have been used to determine the band-gap reduction and valence-band splitting in spontaneously ordered GaInAs/InP. Tilts of the substrate ranging from 2° to 15° towards {111}B, different growth rates and temperatures have been used to produce a series of samples containing various degrees of ordering. Best sample quality including small x-ray and photoluminescence linewidth as well as low temperature luminescence from the band edge was obtained using a substrate tilted 6° towards {111}B. The ratio between ordering induced band-gap reduction and crystal-field splitting was found to be ζ=1.8±0.4. © 1998 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: The energy structure and the carrier relaxation in self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots (SADs) is investigated by photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy (PLE) and photoluminescence (PL) at resonant excitation (below the GaAs and the wetting layer bandgap). In PLE measurements we find a clear resonance from the first excited hole state as well as resonances from a relaxation via different phonons. From a comparison of the PL-rise times in time resolved spectroscopy, we conclude on a fast electron relaxation (≤50 ps) and a slow hole relaxation with a time constant of about 400 ps. Different relaxation paths are observed in the InAs/GaAs quantum dot system and allow us to identify the hole relaxation in the SADs as multiphonon assisted tunneling. The PL-decay time in the SADs after resonant excitation (about 600 ps) is attributed to the lifetime of the quantum dot exciton. In agreement with theoretical predictions, we find a constant lifetime of about 600 ps for temperatures below 50 K and a linear increase of the lifetime between 50 and 100 K with a slope of 26 ps/K. © 1998 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: We present experimental results concerning optical transitions and carrier dynamics (capture and relaxation) in self assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dot structures grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements at high excitation level reveal optical transitions above the ground state emission. These transitions are found to originate from occupied hole states by solving the quantum dot eigenvalue problem. Time-resolved studies after non-resonant pulse excitation exhibit a relaxation ladder of the excited carriers from the GaAs barrier down to the ground state of the quantum dots. From both the continuous-wave measurements and the PL-decay curves we conclude that the carrier relaxation at non-resonant excitation is mediated by Coulomb interaction (Auger effect). PL-decay curves after resonant pulse excitation reveal a longer rise time compared to non-resonant excitation which is a clear indication of a relaxation bottleneck inside the quantum dots. We interpret the rise time (≈ 400 ps) in this case to originate from relaxation via scattering by acoustic phonons. The PL-decay time of the ground state emission ≈700 ps is interpreted as the excitonic lifetime of the quantum dot. © 1996 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Spontaneously ordered Ga0.47In0.53As grown on substrates with the (001) surface tilted 4° towards {111}B are studied using spectroscopic methods as well as x-ray diffraction, transmission electron diffraction and dark-field transmission electron microscopy. The single variant ordering is proved by the absence of one class of the ordering induced 〈fraction SHAPE="CASE"〉12{111}B superlattice spots in transmission electron diffraction patterns as well as by the tilted polarization of the photoluminescence emerging from the samples cleaved edge. The temperature dependence of the luminescence peak position shows an anomalous behavior at low temperatures and a strong dependence of the peak position on the excitation power. From low temperature absorption measurements, we find a band gap reduction of 37 meV and a valence band splitting of 13.2 meV. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: We present a systematic analysis of the hole transport over heterobarriers in the InGaAs(P)/InP material system. The experiments have been performed on our recently developed all-optical switching structures [C. Knorr et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 69, 4212 (1996)], which offer an elegant access to hole transport rates. We have varied barrier thickness, barrier height, bias voltage, and temperature. The time constants vary from 30 μs to 30 ns. Our model calculations, including all heavy and light hole subbands, show that only thermally assisted tunneling can explain both the temperature and electric field dependence of the transport rates. We have extracted the activation energies. The hole capture time is determined as 250±50 fs. © 1998 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: We compare the field screening behavior of quantum-confined Stark effect modulator structures where the GaInAsP/InP heterojunction is in the intrinsic (standard structure) or in the doped regions (modified structure) at working wavelengths of 1.55 and 1.3 μm. The modified structures are obtained by expanding the GaInAsP confinement layers into the p-doped and n-doped regions without changing the total intrinsic layer thickness. The effectiveness of the InP heterobarriers for the holes on the p-side and for the electrons on the n-side is thereby lowered. A significant reduction of field screening for the modified structures is achieved. © 1996 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: The influence of elevated [CO2] on the uptake and assimilation of nitrate and ammonium was investigated by growing tobacco plants in hydroponic culture with 2 mm nitrate or 1 mm ammonium nitrate and ambient or 800 p.p.m. [CO2]. Leaves and roots were harvested at several times during the diurnal cycle to investigate the levels of the transcripts for a high-affinity nitrate transporter (NRT2), nitrate reductase (NIA), cytosolic and plastidic glutamine synthetase (GLN1, GLN2), the activity of NIA and glutamine synthetase, the rate of 15N-nitrate and 15N-ammonium uptake, and the levels of nitrate, ammonium, amino acids, 2-oxoglutarate and carbohydrates. (i) In source leaves of plants growing on 2 mm nitrate in ambient [CO2], NIA transcript is high at the end of the night and NIA activity increases three-fold after illumination. The rate of nitrate reduction during the first part of the light period is two-fold higher than the rate of nitrate uptake and exceeds the rate of ammonium metabolism in the glutamate: oxoglutarate aminotransferase (GOGAT) pathway, resulting in a rapid decrease of nitrate and the accumulation of ammonium, glutamine and the photorespiratory intermediates glycine and serine. This imbalance is reversed later in the diurnal cycle. The level of the NIA transcript falls dramatically after illumination, and NIA activity and the rate of nitrate reduction decline during the second part of the light period and are low at night. NRT2 transcript increases during the day and remains high for the first part of the night and nitrate uptake remains high in the second part of the light period and decreases by only 30% at night. The nitrate absorbed at night is used to replenish the leaf nitrate pool. GLN2 transcript and glutamine synthetase activity rise to a maximum at the end of the day and decline only gradually after darkening, and ammonium and amino acids decrease during the night. (ii) In plants growing on ammonium nitrate, about 30% of the nitrogen is derived from ammonium. More ammonium accumulates in leaves during the day, and glutamine synthetase activity and glutamine levels remain high through the night. There is a corresponding 30% inhibition of nitrate uptake, a decrease of the absolute nitrate level, and a 15–30% decrease of NIA activity in the leaves and roots. The diurnal changes of leaf nitrate and the absolute level and diurnal changes of the NIA transcript are, however, similar to those in nitrate-grown plants. (iii) Plants growing on nitrate adjust to elevated [CO2] by a coordinate change in the diurnal regulation of NRT2 and NIA, which allows maximum rates of nitrate uptake and maximum NIA activity to be maintained for a larger part of the 24 h diurnal cycle. In contrast, tobacco growing on ammonium nitrate adjusts by selectively increasing the rate of ammonium uptake, and decreasing the expression of NRT2 and NIA and the rate of nitrate assimilation. In both conditions, the overall rate of inorganic nitrogen utilization is increased in elevated [CO2] due to higher rates of uptake and assimilation at the end of the day and during the night, and amino acids are maintained at levels that are comparable to or even higher than in ambient [CO2]. (iv) Comparison of the diurnal changes of transcripts, enzyme activities and metabolite pools across the four growth conditions reveals that these complex diurnal changes are due to transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms, which act several steps and are triggered by various signals depending on the condition and organ. The results indicate that nitrate and ammonium uptake and root NIA activity may be regulated by the sugar supply, that ammonium uptake and assimilation inhibit nitrate uptake and root NIA activity, that the balance between the influx and utilization of nitrate plays a key role in the diurnal changes of the NIA transcript in leaves, that changes of glutamine do not play a key role in transcriptional regulation of NIA in leaves but instead inhibit NIA activity via uncharacterized post-transcriptional or post-translational mechanisms, and that high ammonium acts via uncharacterized post-transcriptional or post-translational mechanisms to stabilize glutamine synthetase activity during the night.