Effect of well size fluctuation on photoluminescence spectrum of AlAs―GaAs superlattices

Photoluminescence spectra for undoped superlattices exhibited smaller half widths compared with those obtained in GaAs bulk crystals. However, both the spectral width and shape were found to be very sensitive to the well size. When the well size is greater than about 80 Å, the spectrum at 77 K showed smaller linewidth, which agrees with theoretical results, whereas when the well size is smaller than this, the spectral width increased with decreasing well size. In some cases, additional emission bands appeared in the lower energy side of the main emission peak. These phenomena were interpreted in terms of well size fluctuations.