Homoepitaxy of non-polar ZnO/(Zn,Mg)O multi-quantum wells: From a precise growth control to the observation of intersubband transitions

Abstract

We have developed a method to grow and characterize the state of the art non-polar ZnO/(Zn,Mg)O multi-quantum wells on m-plane ZnO substrates as a prerequisite for applications based on intersubband transitions. The epilayer interfaces exhibit a low roughness, and the layer thickness remains constant within one monolayer in these heterostructures. The optical properties have been studied in the UV and IR domains by means of photoluminescence and absorption experiments, respectively. In the UV, the photoluminescence is very well described by an excitonic transition, with the clear effect of quantum confinement as a function of the well thickness in the absence of the internal field. In the IR, the intersubband transitions can be precisely modeled if a large depolarization shift is taken into account. Overall, we demonstrate a very good control in the design and fabrication of ZnO quantum wells (QWs) for intersubband transitions. Our result gives a clear understanding of the ISBTs in ZnO QWs.