Handbook of Self Assembled Semiconductor Nanostructures for Novel Devices in Photonics and Electronics

In 1969, Leo Esaki (1973 Nobel Laureate) and Ray Tsu from IBM, USA, proposed research on "man-made crystals" using a semiconductor superlattice (a semiconductor structure comprising several alternating ultra-thin layers of semiconductor materials with different properties). This invention was perhaps the first proposal to advocate the engineering of a new semiconductor material, and triggered a wide spectrum of experimental and theoretical investigations. However, the study of what are now called low dimensional structures (LDS) began in the late 1970's when sufficiently thin epitaxial layers were first produced following developments in the technology of epitaxial growth of semiconductors, mainly pioneered in industrial laboratories for device purposes. The LDS are materials structures whose dimensions are comparable with inter-atomic distances in solids (i.e. nanometre, nm). Their electronic properties are significantly different from the same material in bulk form. These properties are changed by quantum effects.At the inception of their investigation it was already clear that such structures were of great scientific interest and excitement and their novel properties caused by quantum effects offered potential for application in new devices. Moreover these complex LDS offer device engineers new design opportunities for tailor-made new generation electronic devices. The LDS could be considered as a new branch of condensed matter physics because of the large variety of possible structures and the changes in the physical processes. One of the promising fabrication methods to produce and study structures with a dimension less than two such as quantum wires and quantum dots, in order to realise novel devices that make use of low-dimensional confinement effects, is self-organisation. Self-assembled nanostructured materials offer a number of advantages over conventional material technologies in a wide-range of sectors. Clearly, future research work on self-assembled nanostructures will connect diverse areas of material science, physics, chemistry, electronics and optoelectronics.Key Features: - Contributors are world leaders in the field - Brings together all the factors which are essential in self-organisation of quantum nanostructures - Reviews the current status of research and development in self-organised nanostructured materials - Provides a ready source of information on a wide range of topics - Useful to any scientist who is involved in nanotechnology - Excellent starting point for workers entering the field - Serves as an excellent reference manual

Table of Contents:
Self-Organized Quantum Dot Multilayer Structures; InAs Quantum Dots on AlxGa1-xAs Surfaces and in an AlxGa1-xAs Matrix; Optical Properties of In(Ga)As/GaAs Quantum Dots for Optoelectronic Devices; Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics with Semiconductor Quantum Dots; InAs Quantum Dot Formation Studied at the Atomic Scale by Cross-sectional Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy; Growth and Characterization of Structural and Optical Properties of Polar and Non-polar GaN Quantum Dots; Optical and Vibrational Properties of Self-Assembled GaN Quantum Dots; GaSb/GaAs Quantum Nanostructures by Molecular Beam Epitaxy; Growth and Characterization of ZnO Nano- and Microstructures; Miniband-related 1.4 – 1.8 ìm Luminescence of Ge/Si Quantum Dot Superlattices; Effects of the Electron-Phonon Interaction in Semiconductor Quantum Dots; Slow Oscillation and Random Fluctuation in Quantum Dots: Can we Overcome?; Radiation Effects in Quantum Dot Structures; Probing and Controlling the Spin State of Single Magnetic Atoms in an Individual Quantum Dot; Quantum Dot Charge and Spin Memory Devices; Engineering of Quantum Dot Nanostructures for Photonic Devices; Advanced Growth Techniques of InAs-system Quantum Dots for Integrated Nanophotonic Circuits; Nanostructured Solar Cells; Quantum Dot Superluminescent Diodes; Quantum Dot-based Mode-locked Lasers and Applications; Quantum Dot Infrared Photodetectors by Metal-Organic Chemical Vapour Deposition; Quantum Dot Structures for Multi-band Infrared and Terahertz Radiation Detection; Optically Driven Schemes for Quantum Computation Based on Self-assembled Quantum Dots; Quantum Optics with Single CdSE/ZnS Colloidal Nanocrystals; PbSe Core, PbSe/PbS and PbSe/PbSe/PbSexS1-x Core-Shell Nanocrystal Quantum Dots: Properties and Applications; Semiconductor Quantum Dots for Biological Applications; Quantum Dot Modification and Cytotoxicity; Colloidal Quantum Dots (QDs) in Optoelectronic Devices – Solar Cells, Photodetectors, Light-emitting Diodes

About the Author :
Dr M. Henini has over 20 years’ experience of Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) growth and has published >700 papers. He has particular interests in the MBE growth and physics of self-assembled quantum dots using electronic, optical and structural techniques. Leaders in the field of self-organisation of nanostructures will give an account on the formation, properties, and self-organization of semiconductor nanostructures.