Critical layer thickness of In0.82Ga0.18As/InP quantum wells

Abstract We present results on a study of strained In 0.82 Ga 0.18 As/InP quantum wells (QWs) grown by gas source MBE. From transmission electron microscopy, we find that the onset of dislocation creation occurs for thickness around 60 A. Strain release is found to induce a dramatic effect on the carrier lifetime as shown by time-resolved photoluminescence technique: lifetimes values of 2 ns are measured on QWs with thickness of 18 and 40 A, but drop to 60 ps on a 64 A thick QW.