Opto-Electronics Review

In this paper questions of optimization of growth conditions in the method of molecular beam epitaxy for creation of high-efficient quantum dot infrared photodetectors are considered. As a model material system for theoretical investigations, heterostructures with germanium-silicon quantum dots on the silicon surface are chosen. For calculations of the dependencies of quantum dots array parameters on synthesis conditions the kinetic model of growth of differently shaped quantum dots based on the general nucleation theory is proposed. The theory is improved by taking into account the change in free energy of nucleation of an island due to the formation of additional edges of islands and due to the dependence of surface energies of facets of quantum dots on the thickness of a 2D wetting layer during the Stranski–Krastanow growth. Calculations of noise and signal characteristics of infrared photodetectors based on heterostructures with quantum dots of germanium on silicon are done. Dark current in such structures caused by thermal emission and barrier tunneling of carriers, as well as detectivity of the photodetector in the approximation of limitation by generation-recombination noises are estimated. Moreover, the presence of dispersion of quantum dots by size is taken into account in the calculations of the generation-recombination noises. Results of calculations of the properties of structures with quantum dots and their dependencies on growth parameters, as well as the characteristics of quantum dot photodetectors are presented. Comparison of the estimated parameters of quantum dots ensembles and the characteristics of quantum dot photodetectors with experimental data is carried out.

In this study, the temperature influence on the spectral responsivity of a Light Emitting Diode (LED) used as a photoreceptor, combined to light source spectrum is correlated to electrical characteristics in order to propose an alternative method to estimate LED junction temperature, regardless of the absolute illumination intensity and based on the direct correlation between the integral of the product of two optical spectra and the photo-generated currents. A laboratory test bench for experimental optical measurements has been set in order to enable any characterizing of photoelectric devices in terms of spectral behaviour, in a wavelength range placed between 400–1000 nm, and of current-voltage characteristics as function of temperature by using two different illumination sources. The temperature is analysed in a range from 5°C up to 85°C, so as to evaluate thermal variation effects on the sensor performance. The photo-generated current of two LEDs with different peak wavelengths has been studied. Research has observed and mathematically analysed what follows: since the photo-generated current strictly depends on the combination between the spectral response of the photoreceptor and the lighting source response, it becomes possible to estimate indirectly the junction temperature of the LEDs by considering the ratio between the photogenerated currents obtained by using two different illumination sources. Such results may for one thing increase knowledge in the fields where LEDs are used as photo-detectors for many applications and for another, they could be extended to generic photodetectors, thus providing useful information in photovoltaic field, for instance.

Designing of a nanoscale Quantum Well (QW) heterostructure with a well thickness of ∼60 Å is critical for many applications and remains a challenge. This paper has a detailed study directed towards designing of In_0.29Ga_0.71As_0.99N_0.01/GaAs straddled nanoscale-heterostructure having a single QW of thickness ∼60 Å and optimization of optical and lasing characteristics such as optical and mode gain, differential gain, gain compression, anti-guiding factor, transparency wavelength, relaxation oscillation frequency (ROF), optical power and their mutual variation behavior. The outcomes of the simulation study imply that for the carrier concentration of ∼2 × 10¹⁸cm⁻³ the optical gain of the nano-heterostructure is of 2100 cm⁻¹ at the wavelength is of 1.30 μm. Though the obtained gain is almost half of the gain of InGaAlAs/InP heterostructure, but from the wavelength point of view the InGaAsN/GaAs nano-heterostructure is also more desirable because the 1.30 μm wavelength is attractive due to negligible dispersion in the silica based optical fiber. Hence, the InGaAsN/GaAs nano-heterostructure can be very valuable in optical fiber based communication systems.

This paper is an analysis of determination possibility of the optical absorption coefficient spectra of thin semiconductor layers from their normalized photoacoustic amplitude spectra. Influence of multiple reflections of light in thin layers on their photoacoustic and optical absorption coefficient spectra is presented and discussed in detail. Practical formulae for the optical absorption coefficient spectrum as a function of the normalized photoacoustic amplitude spectrum are derived and presented. Next, they were applied for computations of the optical absorption coefficient spectra of thin In₂S₃ thin layers deposited on a glass substrate. This method was experimentally verified with the optical transmission method.

Transparent Conductive Electrode (TCE) is an essential part of the optoelectronic and display devices such as Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs), Solar Cells, Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) and touch screens. Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) is a commonly used TCE in these devices because of its high transparency and low sheet resistance. However, scarcity of indium and brittle nature of ITO limit its use in future flexible electronics. In order to develop flexible optoelectronic devices with improved performance, there is a requirement of replacing the ITO with a better alternate TCE. In this work, several alternative TCEs including transparent conductive oxides, carbon nanotubes, conducting polymers, metal nanowires, graphene and composites of these materials are studied with their properties such as sheet resistance, transparency and flexibility. The advantage and current challenges of these materials are also presented in this work.

A ternary photonic crystal with left-handed material (LHM) layer is examined for refractometric applications. One of the layers is assumed to be air and treated as an analyte. The transmittance from the ternary photonic crystal is studied in details and the wavelength shift due to the change in the refractive index of the analyte is investigated. The transmittance is investigated with the parameters of the LHM. It is found that the wavelength shift can be significantly enhanced with the decrease of both real part of the LHM permittivity and thickness.

The aim of this work was to induce permanent birefringence both in typical liquid crystal cells and photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) by photo-polymerization. For this purpose three different liquid crystalline materials, namely E7, 5CB, and 6CHBT were combined with a mixture of RM257 monomer and a UV sensitive initiator with the percentage weight less than 10%. Due to the photo-polymerization process it was possible to achieve polymer-stabilized liquid crystal orientation inside LC cells and micro-sized cylindrical glass tubes. In particular, periodic change in spatial molecular orientation was achieved by selective photo-polymerization. Successful results obtained in these simple geometries allowed for the experimental procedure to be repeated in PCFs leading to locally-induced permanent birefringence in PCFs.

Al doped ZnO has been explored as a viable alternative to indium thin oxide, which is usually used as transparent electrodes' coverage but is expensive. Homogenous and durable ZnO:Al layers on glass have been obtained in radio frequency magnetron sputtering system by adjusting optimized deposition parameters, using ZnO ceramic target with 2 wt% Al₂O₃. Then, after growth process, annealing treatment has been introduced in order to improve the quality of the layers. Structural, electrical and optical properties of the obtained ZnO:Al layers are presented and discussed. From the application point of view, the best results (sheet resistance of 24 Ω/sq and transparency well above 85%) were achieved after annealing in 300°C.

A new technique of Mueller-matrix mapping of the birefringent structure of biological preparations of human organs tissues is suggested. The algorithms of reconstruction of average values and magnitude of fluctuations of the phase (birefringence) and amplitude (dichroism) of optically anisotropic structure of myocardium and connective tissue component of the vaginal wall histological section are proposed. The magnitudes and ranges of changes in the statistical moments of the 1st-4th order that characterize the distribution of average values and magnitude of fluctuations of birefringence and dichroism of the myocardium and connective tissue of the vaginal tissues histological sections were determined. Joint studies of distributions of the characteristics of phase and amplitude of the anisotropy of myocardium and connective tissue component of the vaginal wall tissues of different states were performed. The cases of various necrotic changes in the myocardium and pathological conditions of the vagina wall (prolapse of the genitals) are examined. Balanced accuracy of the method of Mueller-matrix polarization-phase and diffuse tomography of optically anisotropic polycrystalline networks in the differentiation of necrotic and pathological changes in human organs is determined.