Linear and Nonlinear Spectroscopy of Selected II-Vi Compound Bulk and Quantum Well Structures

Scope and method of study. The linear and nonlinear optical properties of the II-VI compound semiconductors ZnSe, CdTe, and quantum well structures constructed of ZnCdSe/ZnSe were investigated. The techniques employed in this study included two-photon photoluminescence excitation, non-degenerate four-wave mixing, stimulated emission, linear absorption, and photoluminescence spectroscopies. Findings and conclusions. The combination of linear absorption and two-photon photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy allowed the observation of the 1s and 2p excitons, and determination of their binding energies for ZnCdSe/ZnSe quantum wells. The stimulated emission measurements were used to determine the gain values for epilayers of CdTe. Stimulated emission was seen to originate from two separate mechanisms, bound excitons and electron-hole plasma generation. The photoluminescence studies of doped ZnSe showed that the doping techniques generated substantial defect states as well as the desired donor and acceptor states.