Abstract
A detailed analysis of the electrical response of In0.3Ga0.7As surface quantum dots (SQDs) coupled to 5-layer buried quantum dots (BQDs) is carried out as a function of ethanol and acetone concentration while temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) spectra are also analyzed. The coupling structure is grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy. Carrier transport from BQDs to SQDs is confirmed by the temperature-dependent PL spectra. The importance of the surface states for the sensing application is once more highlighted. The results show that not only the exposure to the target gas but also the illumination affect the electrical response of the coupling sample strongly. In the ethanol atmosphere and under the illumination, the sheet resistance of the coupling structure decays by 50% while it remains nearly constant for the reference structure with only the 5-layer BQDs but not the SQDs. The strong dependence of the electrical response on the gas concentration makes SQDs very suitable for the development of integrated micrometer-sized gas sensor devices.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
S. S. Zhang, G. Sun, Y. W. Li, B. Zhang, L. Lin, Y. Wang, et al., “Continuously improved gas-sensing performance of SnO2/Zn2SnO4 porous cubes by structure evolution and further NiO decoration,” Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 2018, 255: 2936–2943.
T. N. N. Dau, V. H. Vu, T. T. Cao, V. C. Nguyen, C. T. Ly, D. L. Tran, et al., “In-situ electrochemically deposited Fe3O4 nanoparticles onto graphene nanosheets as amperometric amplifier for electrochemical biosensing applications,” Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 2019, 283: 52–60.
R. Alrammouz, J. Podlecki, P. Abboud, B. Sorli, and R. Habchi, “A review on flexible gas sensors: from materials to devices,” Sensors and Actuators A, 2018, 284: 209–231.
Z. Xiao, L. B. Kong, S. C. Ruan, X. L. Li, S. J. Yu, X. Y. Li, et al., “Recent development in nanocarbon materials for gas sensor applications,” Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 2018, 274: 235.
J. Kwoen, B. Jang, J. Lee, T. Kageyama, K. Watanabe, and Y. Arakawa, “All MBE grown InAs/GaAs quantum dots lasers on on-axis Si (001),” Optics Express, 2018, 26(9): 11568.
Q. Li, Y. Huang, J. Ning, C. Jiang, X. Wang, H. Chen, et al., “InAs/GaAs quantum dot dual-mode distributed feedback laser towards large tuning range continuous-wave terahertz application,” Nanoscale Research Letters, 2018, 13(1): 267.
D. Kim, S. Hatch, J. Wu, K. A. Sablon, P. Lam, P. Jurczak, et al., “Type-II InAs/GaAsSb quantum dot solar cells with GaAs interlayer,” IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, 2018, 8(3): 741.
Y. Bidaux, K. A. Fedorova, D. A. Livshits, E. U. Rafailov, and J. Faist, “Investigation of the chromatic dispersion in two section InAs/GaAs quantum-dot lasers,” IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, 2017, 29(24): 2246.
N. S. Beattie, P. See, G. Zoppi, P. M. U. M. Duchamp, I. Farrer, D. A. Ritchie, et al., “Quantum engineering of InAs/GaAs quantum dot based intermediate band solar cells,” ACS Photonic, 2017, 4(11): 2745.
R. D. Angelis, M. Casalboni, L. D. Amico, F. D. Matteis, F. Hatami, W. T. Masselink, et al., “Vapour sensitivity of InP surface quantum dots,” Key Engineering Materials, 2014, 605: 177.
R. D. Angelis, M. Casalboni, F. D. Matteis, F. Hatami, W. T. Masselink, H. Zhang, et al., “Chemical sensitivity of InP/In0.48Ga0.52P surface quantum dots studied by time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy,” Journal of Luminescence, 2015, 168: 54.
M. J. Milla, J. M. Ulloa, and A. Guzman, “Photoexcited-induced sensitivity of InGaAs surface QDs to environment,” Nanotechnology, 2014, 25(44): 445501.
B. L. Liang, Z. M. Wang, Y. I. Mazur, and G. J. Salamo, “Photoluminescence of surface InAs quantum dot stacking on multiplayer buried quantum dots,” Applied Physics Letters, 2006, 89(24): 243124.
Q. Yuan, B. L. Liang, C. Zhou, Y. Wang, Y. N. Guo, S. F. Wang, et al., “Interplay effect of temperature and excitation intensity on the photoluminescence characteristics of InGaAs/GaAs surface quantum dots,” Nanoscale Research Letters, 2018, 13(1): 387.
B. L. Liang, Z. M. Wang, Y. I. Mazur, S. Seydmohamadi, M. E. Ware, and G. J. Salamo, “Tuning the optical performance of surface quantum dots in InGaAs/GaAs hybrid structures,” Optics Express, 2007, 15(13): 8157.
A. Lin, B. L. Liang, V. G. Dorogan, Yu I. Mazur, G. G. Tarasov, G. J. Salamo, et al., “Strong passivation effects on the properties of an InAs surface quantum dot hybrid structure,” Nanotechnology, 2013, 24(7): 075701.
G. Wang, B. L. Liang, B. C. Juang, A. Das, M. C. Debnath, D. L. Huffaker, et al., “Comparative study of photoluminescence from In0.3Ga0.7As/GaAs surface and buried quantum dots,” Nanotechnology, 2016, 27(46): 465701.
B. L. Liang, Z. M. Wang, Y. I. Mazur, and G. J. Salamo, “Correlation between surface and buried InAs quantum dots,” Applied Physics Letters, 2006, 89(4): 043125.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the supports from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. U1804165 and 61774053), the Project of Henan Provincial Department of Science and Technology (Grant No. 182102410047), the Program of Henan Polytechnic University (Grant Nos. NSFRF140116 and B2014-020) and the Program of Henan Province Office of Education (Grant No. 19B510004).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecomm-ons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, G., Liu, Z., Wang, J. et al. Gas Sensitivity of In0.3Ga0.7As Surface QDs Coupled to Multilayer Buried QDs. Photonic Sens 10, 283–290 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13320-019-0575-4
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13320-019-0575-4