Optically detected cyclotron resonance studies of InxGa1-xNyAs1-y/GaAs quantum wells sandwiched between type-II AlAs/GaAs superlattices

We report on our results from a systematic study of layered structures containing an InGaNAs/GaAs single quantum well (SQW) enclosed between staggered type II AlAs/GaAs superlattices (SL), by the photoluminescence (PL) and optically detected cyclotron resonance (ODCR) techniques. Besides the ODCR signal known to originate from electrons in GaAs, the predominant ODCR peak is shown to be related to carriers with a two-dimensional character and a cyclotron resonance effective mass of m(*)approximate to(0.51-0.56)m(0). The responsible carriers are ascribed to electrons on the ellipsoidal equienergy surface at the AlAs X point of the Brillouin zone within the SL, based on results from angular and spectral dependences of the ODCR signal. No ODCR signal related to the InGaNAs SQW was detected, presumably due to low carrier mobility despite the high optical quality. Multiple absorption of photons with energy below the band gap energy of the SL and the GaAs barriers was observed, which bears implication on the efficiency of light-emitting devices based on these structures. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.