Comparison of proton and phosphorous ion implantation-induced intermixing of InAs/InP quantum dots

We report and compare proton and phosphorous ion implantation-induced intermixing of InAs/InP quantum dots (QDs). After ion implantation at 20-300°C, the QDs are rapid thermally annealed at 850°C for 30 s. Proton implantation induces less energy shift than P ion implantation for a given concentration of atomic displacements due to the more efficient dynamic annealing of the defects created by protons. The implantation-induced energy shift reaches a maximum value of about 260 meV for a dose of 5 × 10 ¹² ions cm^-2 in the P ion implanted QDs, which also show narrower PL linewidths compared to the proton implanted QDs. We also report the effects of an InGaAs top cap layer on the ion implantation-induced QD intermixing and show that defect production and annihilation processes evolve differently in InGaAs and InP layers and vary with the implantation temperature. When the implantation is performed at higher temperatures, the energy shift of the P ion implanted QDs capped with an InP layer increases due to the reduction in larger defect cluster formation at higher temperatures, while the energy shift of the proton implanted QDs decreases due to increased dynamic annealing irrespective of their cap layers.