Thermal annealing recovery of intersubband transitions in proton-irradiated GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum wells

Abstract

Intersubband transitions in 1 MeV proton-irradiated GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum wells were studied using an optical absorption technique and isochronal thermal annealing. The intersubband transitions were completely depleted in samples irradiated with doses as low as 4 × 1014 cm-2. More than 80% recovery of these depleted transitions was achieved after the samples were thermally annealed at temperatures less than 650°C. The total integrated areas and peak position energies of the intersubband transitions in irradiated and unirradiated samples were monitored as a function of annealing temperature. It was noted that the recovery of the depleted intersubband transitions in irradiated samples depend on the irradiation dose and thermal annealing temperature. Show more