Optical properties of InGaAsBi/GaAs strained quantum wells studied by temperature-dependent photoluminescence

The effect of bismuth on the optical properties of InGaAsBi/GaAs quantum well structures is investigated by using the temperature-dependent photoluminescence from 12 K to 450 K. The incorporation of bismuth in the InGaAsBi quantum well is confirmed and found to result in a red shift of photoluminescence wavelength of 27.3 meV at 300 K. The photoluminescence intensity is significantly enhanced by about 50 times at 12 K with respect to that of the InGaAs quantum well due to the surfactant effect of bismuth. The temperature-dependent integrated photoluminescence intensities of the two samples reveal different behaviors related to various non-radiative recombination processes. The incorporation of bismuth also induces alloy non-uniformity in the quantum well, leading to an increased photoluminescence linewidth.