Abstract
The photoluminescence (PL) quenching characteristics of a thermal-annealed ∼7 nm GaInNAs/GaAs quantum well (QW) with In=30% and N=1.5% were studied from 4 to 150 K. It is found that the integrated PL intensity versus temperature characteristic can be well fitted by a double activation energy model. One of the centers with low activation energy
E
B
=9
meV
is thought to originate from a localized state that traps carriers at temperatures below ∼100 K. Therefore,
E
B
is the thermal energy required to activate the localized state carriers to the
e1
state of the GaInNAs QW. Another center with larger activation energy
E
A
=38
meV
has a more significant PL quenching effect at temperatures above ∼120 K. This center is possibly contributed by the EL6 defect level in the GaAs barrier layer, as a result of low V/III ratio of 15, and low growth temperature of 450 °C.