Experimental Detection on Thickness Fluctuation of InxGa1-xAs-Based Indium-Rich Cluster Structure

The thickness detection of quantum well has always been the research focus, especially for In_xGa_1-xAs-based indium-rich cluster (IRC) structure, which has a thickness fluctuation of normal and indium-deficient InGaAs layers caused by IRC effect. In this paper, a simple and effective detection method for the special IRC structure is proposed by point-to-point acquisition. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra emitted from different In_xGa_1-xAs positions are measured by moving the metal mask with a 0.2-mm-diameter light hole. By establishing the relationship between In_xGa_1-xAs thickness and spectral intensity, the thickness fluctuation of normal In_0.17Ga_0.83As and indium-deficient In_0.12Ga_0.88As layers is determined by comparing the intensity of dual peaks. The dual peaks are typical feature of this IRC structure, which is caused by the migration of indium atoms. The significance of this experimental results is that it not only can detect the thickness distribution of In_xGa_1-xAs materials with different x values, but also determine the critical thickness of indium atom migration in the growth of highly strained quantum well.