ULTRA-FAST QUANTUM-REGIME SEMICONDUCTORS, COM- PONENTS, AND SUB-SYSTEMS (QUEST)

TULE QUEST is concerned with the fundamental research of quantum-regime optical wavelength-scale semiconductors and devices to improve the understanding of the physics of ultra-fast optical phenomena in matter and to demonstrate such phenomena in actual devices. TULE QUEST Consortium has addressed these issues in many ways: theoretically, empirically, and technologically. One of the most important achievements is a breakthrough made in studies of generation, processing, and measurement of ultra-fast (femtosecond) optical pulses produced from new kinds of light sources at the wavelengths of 800, 1000, and 1550 nm. Other remarkable results include an observation of the quantum-well walls of vac-uum-cleaved samples almost on an atomic resolution by means of a cross-sectional variable-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy, the use of the positron emission spectroscopy and time-resolved photo-luminescence for investigations of effects of ion-irradiation on the physical properties of III-V semicon-ductors. A new tool for exploring ultra-fast optical reflectance − a pump-probe system − has been built. Theoretical work has produced extremely valuable information about electronic and optical properties of semiconductors, notably of GaN and dilutes GaInNAs, which are the semiconductors for blue lasers and telecom lasers, respectively. Work on optimization of microstructured optical fibers has also been usefu