Nikolai N. Ledentsov - Böcker

Quantum Dot Heterostructures Dieter Bimberg, Marius Grundmann and Nikolai N. Ledentsov Institute of Solid State Physics, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany Quantum dots are nanometer-size semiconductor structures, and represent one of the most rapidly developing areas of current semiconductor research as increases in the speed and decreases in the size of semiconductor devices become more important. They present the utmost challenge to semiconductor technology, making possible fascinating novel devices. This important new reference book focuses on the key phenomena and principles. Chapter 1 provides a brief account of the history of quantum dots, whilst the second chapter surveys the various fabrication techniques used in the past two decades, and introduces the concept of self-organized growth. This topic is expanded in the following chapter, which presents a broad review of self-organization phenomena at surfaces of crystals. Experimental results on growth of quantum dot structures in many different systems and on their structural characterization are presented in Chapter 4. Basic properties of the dots relate to their geometric structure and chemical composition. Numerical modeling of the electronic and optical properties of real dots is presented in Chapter 5, together with general theoretical considerations on carrier capture, relaxation, recombination and properties of quantum dot lasers. Chapters 6 and 7 summarize experimental results on electronic, optical and electrical properties. The book concludes by disoussing highly topical results on quantum-dot-based photonic devices - mainly quantum dot lasers. Quantum Dot Heterostructures is written by some of the key researchers who have contributed significantly to the development of the field, and have pioneered both the theoretical understanding of quantum dot related phenomena and quantum dot lasers. It is of great interest to graduate and postgraduate students, and to researchers in semiconductor physics and technology and optoelectronics.

The book considers the main growth-related phenomena occurring during epitaxial growth, such as thermal etching, doping, segregation of the main elements and impurities, coexistence of several phases at the crystal surface and segregation-enhanced diffusion.It is complete with tables, graphs and figures, which allow fast determination of suitable growth parameters for practical applications.

The general trend in modern solid state physics and technology is to make things smaller. The size of key elements in modern devices approaches the nanometer scale, for both vertical and lateral dimensions. Ultrathin layers, or quantum wells, had already gained broad acceptance for applications in micro- and optoelectronics by the 1980s. However, the development of het­ erostructures with lower dimensionality (quantum wires, where carriers are confined in two directions and move freely in one, and quantum dots, where carriers are confined in all three directions) took longer. It became clear that quantum wire and dot structures constitute the utmost technological chal­ lenge, whilst providing enormous advantages. At the beginning of the 1990s, a few outstanding discoveries concern­ ing self-organization phenomena at crystal surfaces for direct fabrication of nanostructures led to a change in the major paradigms of semiconductor physics and technology. This new approach in epitaxy enables fast parallel fabrication of large densities of quantum dots or wires for almost unlimited material combinations and has become the basis for a powerful new branch of nanotechnology. Quantum dots, coherent inclusions in a semiconductor ma­ trix with zero-dimensional electronic properties persistent up to room tem­ perature, have demonstrated fascinating physical properties and given birth to a novel generation of optoelectronic devices and systems.

The book considers the main growth-related phenomena occurring during epitaxial growth, such as thermal etching, doping, segregation of the main elements and impurities, coexistence of several phases at the crystal surface and segregation-enhanced diffusion.It is complete with tables, graphs and figures, which allow fast determination of suitable growth parameters for practical applications.