FABRICATION AND SPECTROSCOPIC STUDIES OF INP/GAINAS/INP AND GAAS/GAINAS/GAAS QUANTUM-WELL WIRE STRUCTURES

Quantum-well wire (QWW) structures have been fabricated by electron-beam lithography and etching. The original sample structures consisted of 30 angstrom thick quantum wells of GaInAs embedded in either InP or GaAs. Methane plasma based etching was used for fabrication of wires in the InP/GaInAs system while wet etching was used for the GaAs/GaInAs system. In both cases were obtained wires with effective widths less than 100 nm. Proof of the existence of the wires in the processed material was obtained and spectroscopic studies on individual wires have been made using low-temperature cathodoluminescence by which individual wires have been directly imaged. These studies demonstrate the fabrication of well-defined less-than-or-equal-to 50 nm wide wires having properties suitable for optical applications.