Structural and Optical Properties in Shock-Compressed GaAs

Tuning the band gap in semiconductors can be achieved through many means, such as applying strain epitaxially, which typically requires complicated growth and/or processing of the materials. An alternative is applying a one-time shock. In this study, laser-driven flyer plate experiments were conducted in crystalline GaAs to probe permanent structural changes induced by shock compression. In this talk, we present detailed characterizations of our samples after the compression was conducted using different approaches, including photoluminescence (PL), Time-resolved PL, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectroscopy. These measurements provide details of structural changes in several GaAs films using our Shock-Compressed technique.