Growth of high quality strained AlxGa1−xAs/In0.26Ga0.74As/AlzGa1−zAs quantum wells and the effect of silicon nitride encapsulation and rapid thermal annealing

We report on the realization of high quality single quantum wells (SQWs) in the highly strained AlxGa1−xAs/In0.26Ga0.74As/AlzGa1−zAs system with 0≤(x, z)≤1.0. Photoluminescence (PL) linewidths of 5.5±0.4 meV for 0.30≤(x and z)≤0.70 have been achieved. Use of both alloys and short period multiple layer structures as the well and/or barrier layers has been examined. The silicon nitride encapsulation as well as rapid thermal annealing (RTA) induced changes in the PL properties of the as‐grown SQW structures have been examined. Deposition of the nitride is found to induce a blue shift in the exciton peak. RTA induces a further blue shift, though not as large as that induced by RTA of unencapsulated (i.e., as‐grown) structures. The RTA induced changes indicate interdiffusion of the group III atoms at the GaAs/InGaAs and InGaAs/AlGaAs interfaces.