Abstract
The tunneling time for electrons to escape from the lowest quasi-bound state in the quantum wells of GaAs/AlAs/GaAs/AlAs/GaAs double-barrier heterostructures with barriers between 16 Å and 62 Å has been measured at 80 K using photoluminescence excitation correlation spectroscopy. The decay time for samples with barrier thicknesses from 16 Å (≈ 12 ps) to 34 Å (≈ 800 ps) depends exponentially on barrier thickness, in good agreement with calculations of electron tunneling time derived from the energy width of the resonance. Electron and heavy-hole carrier densities are observed to decay at the same rate, in contrast to resonance-width calculations that indicate that heavy-hole tunneling times should be much longer than those for electrons. Reasons for this observation are discussed. Similar measurements in biased structures showing negative differential resistance are described.
© 1989 Optical Society of America
PDF ArticleMore Like This
T. Matsusue, M. Tsuchiya, and H. Sakaki
WD1 Quantum Wells for Optics and Opto-Electronics (QWOE) 1989
T. Matsusue, M. Tsuchiya, and H. Sakaki
DS254 Picosecond Electronics and Optoelectronics (UEO) 1989
T.B. Norris, X.J. Song, G. Wicks, W.J. Schaff, L.F. Eastman, and G.A. Mourou
WD5 Quantum Wells for Optics and Opto-Electronics (QWOE) 1989