Influence of the doping type on the temperature dependencies of the photoluminescence efficiency of InGaAlAs/InGaAs/InP heterostructures

The temperature dependencies of photoluminescence efficiency of InGaAlAs/InGaAs/InP heterostructures with 1550 nm range strained quantum wells have been studied. The heterostructures had nine In0.74Ga0.26As quantum wells which were separated by In0.53Al0.20Ga0.27As barriers. The barriers were δ-doped with n- and p-type dopants with different layer concentrations of charge carriers. The both p-type and n-type doping of barriers leads to slight increase in the efficiency when doping level not exceeding values of (1–5)·1012 cm−2. Moreover, doping with an n-type dopant leads to a significant increase in the width of the photoluminescence spectrum, while doping with a p-type dopant leads to a decrease in its width, compared to a heterostructure with undoped barrier layers. •The semiconductor heterostructures with strained InGaAs QWs were grown on semi-insulated InP (100) substrates using MBE.•The barriers were δ-doped with n - and p-type dopants with different layer concentrations of charge carriers.•The moderate doping of the barrier layers increases the efficiency of radiative recombination at low excitation levels.•N-doping of QWs barriers increases in the FWHM of PL spectra, while p-doping decreases FWHM, compared to a undoped barriers.•Obtained results can be used in the development of light-emitting structures for 1550 nm spectral range.