Minority-carrier lifetime in AlxGa1−xAs grown by molecular-beam epitaxy

Abstract
AlxGa1−xAs (x>0.30) double heterostructures are grown by molecular‐beam epitaxy (MBE) and the minority‐carrier lifetimes are measured by time‐resolved photoluminescence. The data indicate that the minority‐carrier lifetimes in high aluminum (x>0.30) AlxGa1−xAs grown by MBE are comparable to the previously published lifetimes of material grown by liquid‐phase epitaxy. The lifetimes in MBE materials appear to be somewhat larger than those measured in materials grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Factors affecting AlGaAs minority‐carrier lifetime, such as the growth temperature, the aluminum concentration, and the confinement layer composition will be discussed.