This paper reports the demonstration of optically pumped GeSn edge-emitting lasers grown on Si substrates. The whole device structures were grown by an industry standard chemical vapor deposition reactor using the low cost commercially available precursors SnCl4 and GeH4 in a single run epitaxy process. Temperature-dependent characteristics of laser-output versus pumping-laser-input showed lasing operation up to 110 K. The 10 K lasing threshold and wavelength were measured as 68 kW/cm2 and 2476 nm, respectively. Lasing characteristic temperature (T0) was extracted as 65 K.

Material and optical characterizations have been conducted for epitaxially grown Ge1−xSnx thin films on Si with Sn composition up to 10%. A direct bandgap Ge0.9Sn0.1 alloy has been identified by temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) study based on the single peak spectrum and the narrow line-width. Room temperature PL emission as long as 2230 nm has also been observed from the same sample.

A Si-based monolithic laser is highly desirable for full integration of Si-photonics. Lasing from direct bandgap group-IV GeSn alloy has opened a completely new venue from the traditional III-V integration approach. We demonstrated optically pumped GeSn lasers on Si with broad wavelength coverage from 2 to 3 μm. The GeSn alloys were grown using newly developed approaches with an industry standard chemical vapor deposition reactor and low-cost commercially available precursors. The achieved maximum Sn composition of 17.5% exceeded the generally acknowledged Sn incorporation limits for using similar deposition chemistries.The highest lasing temperature was measured as 180 K with the active layer thickness as thin as 2 260 nm. The unprecedented lasing performance is mainly due to the unique growth approaches, which offer high-quality epitaxial materials. The results reported in this work show a major advance towards Si-based mid-infrared laser sources for integrated photonics.Si-based electronics industry has driven the digital revolution for an unprecedented success.As a result, there has been tremendous effort to broaden the reach of Si technology to build integrated photonics 1-3 . Although great success has been made on Si-based waveguides 4 , modulators 5 , and photodetectors 6,7 , a monolithic integrated light source on Si with high efficiency and reliability remains missing and is seen as the most challenging task to form a complete set of Si photonic components. Currently, Si photonics utilizes direct bandgap III-V lasers as the light source through different integration approaches such as wafer-bonding or direct-growth, which has seen significant progress in the last decade [8][9][10][11] . From the other side, a low solid solubility of Sn in Ge (<1%), low temperature growth techniques under nonequilibrium conditions have been successfully developed 20,21 , leading to the first experimental demonstration of direct bandgap GeSn alloy 22 and the optically pumped GeSn interband lasers [23][24][25] . The recent engagement of mainstream industrial chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactors for the development of GeSn growth techniques has enabled those significant results, which implies that the growth method is manufacturable and can be transferred to the foundry/fab 3 . In this paper, we demonstrate the first set of optically pumped GeSn edge-emitting lasers that covers an unprecedented broad wavelength range from 2 to 3 μm with lower lasing threshold and higher operation temperature than all previous reports. This superior laser performance is attributed to the unique epitaxial growth approaches that were developed based on newly discovered growth dynamics. Contrary to the common belief that growing GeSn with high Sn fabrication of a thicker, defect-free GeSn top layer to maximize the mode overlap with it.Moreover, the material growth study revealed that there is still room to further improve the material quality by optimizing the growth conditions. References

Lasing from direct bandgap group-IV GeSn alloys has opened a new venue for the development of Sibased monolithic laser. In this work, we demonstrate optically pumped GeSn lasers based on both ridge and planar waveguide structures. The near room temperature operation at 270 K was achieved with optically pumped edge-emitting devices. Moreover, due to the reduced side-wall surface recombination and improved thermal management, the 100 μm wide ridge waveguide laser features a lower lasing threshold compared to other devices. The advance reported in this work, enabled by the material growth via an industry standard chemical vapor deposition reactor and low-cost commercially available precursors, is a major step forward toward Si-based mid-infrared sources for photonics integration.

The GeSn direct gap material system, with Si complementary-metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatibility, presents a promising solution for direct incorporation of focal plane arrays with short wave infrared detection on Si. A temperature dependence study of GeSn photoconductors with 0.9, 3.2, and 7.0% Sn was conducted using both electrical and optical characterizations from 300 to 77 K. The GeSn layers were grown on Si substrates using a commercially available chemical vapor deposition reactor in a Si CMOS compatible process. Carrier activation energies due to ionization and trap states are extracted from the temperature dependent dark I-V characteristics. The temperature dependent spectral response of each photoconductor was measured, and a maximum long wavelength response to 2.1 μm was observed for the 7.0% Sn sample. The DC responsivity measured at 1.55 μm showed around two orders of magnitude improvement at reduced temperatures for all samples compared to room temperature measurements. The noise current and temperature dependent specific detectivity (D*) were also measured for each sample at 1.55 μm, and a maximum D* value of 1 × 10(9) cm·√Hz/W was observed at 77 K.

In this work we study the nature of the band gap in GeSn alloys for use in silicon-based lasers. Special attention is paid to Sn-induced band mixing effects. We demonstrate from both experiment and ab-initio theory that the (direct) Γ-character of the GeSn band gap changes continuously with alloy composition and has significant Γ-character even at low (6%) Sn concentrations. The evolution of the Γ-character is due to Sn-induced conduction band mixing effects, in contrast to the sharp indirect-to-direct band gap transition obtained in conventional alloys such as Al1−xGaxAs. Understanding the band mixing effects is critical not only from a fundamental and basic properties viewpoint but also for designing photonic devices with enhanced capabilities utilizing GeSn and related material systems.

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Thin-film Ge0.9Sn0.1 structures were grown by reduced-pressure chemical vapor deposition and were fabricated into photoconductors on Si substrates using a CMOS-compatible process. The temperature-dependent responsivity and specific detectivity (D*) were measured from 300 K down to 77 K. The peak responsivity of 1.63 A/W measured at 1.55 μm and 77 K indicates an enhanced responsivity due to photoconductive gain. The measured spectral response of these devices extends to 2.4 μm at 300 K, and to 2.2 μm at 77 K. From analysis of the carrier drift and photoconductive gain measurements, we have estimated the carrier lifetime of this Ge0.9Sn0.1 thin film. The longest measured effective carrier lifetime of 1.0 × 10−6 s was observed at 77 K.