Optical properties of arsenic ions implanted GaAs/AlGaAs V-grooved quantum wires

Asymmetric double GaAs/AlGaAs V-grooved quantum wires, grown by low pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition, are studied using photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The structure was selectively treated by ion implantation at different arsenic (As) doses after growth. The ion implantation strongly reduces the efficiency of the emissions from the implanted well regions or even quenches the PL emissions from certain well regions due to irradiation damage. Wire emission is clearly resolved in the samples after treatment by low dose implantation. The temperature dependence of the wire emission intensity shows an enhancement at a temperature of around 45 K. The wire emission peak with a shoulder at its high energy side at low temperatures develops into double peaks in a temperature region between 20 and 140 K, and the high energy transition component dominates the PL spectra at temperatures above 140 K. The deduced energy separation between two peaks is about 10 meV. With further increasing temperatures the wire emission related to the light hole state can be observed at temperatures above 150 K. Deduced splitting between the heavy and light states is about 35 meV in our structures. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)01717-5].