This overview is devoted to the discovery, development of the technology, and investigation of III–V semiconductors performed at the Ioffe Institute, where the first steps in fabricating...

Arrays of coherent InSb quantum dots (QDs) have been fabricated by liquid-phase epitaxy on InAs substrates in the temperature range T = 420–450°C. The QDs with a density of (0.9−2) × 10¹⁰ cm⁻² were 3 nm high and 13 nm in diameter. A bimodal QD size distribution was observed, which was accounted for by a combined growth mechanism of these nanoobjects. Structural characteristics of a separate InSb QD formed on the InAs surface were studied for the first time by atomic-force and transmission electron microscopies. Moire fringes were observed for the first time for QDs in the InSb/InAs system, with the moire period of 3.5 nm corresponding to InSb QDs without an admixture of arsenic.

Photoluminescence in a double heterostructure based on a ternary InAsSb solid solution was observed in the mid-infrared range of 2.5–4 μm. A range of compositions of the InAs_1−ySb_y ternary solid solution has been established, where the energy resonance between the band gap and the splitting-off band in the valence band of the semiconductor can be achieved. Due to the impact of nonradiative Auger recombination processes, different temperature dependence of photoluminescence intensity was found for the barrier layer and the narrow-gap active region, respectively. It was shown that efficient high-temperature photoluminescence can be achieved by suppressing the nonradiative Auger recombination (CHHS) process. Increased temperature, for which the energy gap is lower than the split-off band energy, leads to violation of the resonance condition in narrow gap antimonide compounds, which explains the observed phenomenon. This finding might influence future application of the investigated material systems in mid-infrared emitters used for, e.g., optical gas sensing.

Experimental results obtained upon the growth of InAs_{1 − x − y} Sb _y P _x multicomponent solid solutions with 0.43 < x < 0.72 by metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy at low deposition temperatures (T < 520°C) with a metal-organic source of arsenic are presented. A model is suggested for describing the growth of an InAsSbP epitaxial layer that is isomorphic with the InAs substrate at a given ratio between the phosphorus and antimony concentrations in the solid phase.