ELECTRONIC SUBBAND STRUCTURE OF INP INXGA1-XP QUANTUM ISLANDS FROM HIGH-PRESSURE PHOTOLUMINESCENCE AND PHOTOREFLECTANCE/

We have measured low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) under hydrosta tic pressure and photomodulated reflectivity (PR) at ambient condition s of nanoscale InP islands embedded in an In0.48Ga0.52P matrix-grown l attice matched on a GaAs substrate. The pressure experiments cover the range of the pressure-induced Gamma-X conduction-band crossover both in the InP islands and in the In(x)Ga1(-x)P barrier. Below the Gamma-X crossings the PL emission is dominated by direct optical transitions in the islands and in the barrier, both shifting to higher energy with increasing pressure. The PL bands observed above the crossover are br oad and weak, and their pressure dependence turns to negative. These b ands are therefore attributed to the indirect optical transitions betw een X conduction-band states and the Gamma heavy holes of the InP isla nds and the InxGa1-xP matrix, respectively. PR spectra show two well-r esolved features below the direct gap of InxGa1-xP, which are assigned to optical transitions between heavy-hole subbands and electron level s of the InP islands. From the combined PL and PR data we derive a val ue of 80 +/- 15 meV for the valence-band offset in the strained InP/In xGa1-xP system. The interpretation of experimental results in terms of subband-structure calculations within the envelope-function approxima tion allows us to estimate the amount of strain relaxation in the isla nds.