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.

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

This paper reports a comprehensive study of Si-based GeSn mid-infrared photodetectors, which includes: i) the demonstration of a set of photoconductors with Sn compositions ranging from 10.5% to 22.3%, showing the cut-off wavelength has been extended to 3.65 µm . The measured maximum D* of 1.1×10 10 cm⋅Hz 1/2 ⋅W -1 is comparable to that of commercial extended-InGaAs detectors; ii) the development of surface passivation technique on photodiode based on in-depth analysis of dark current mechanism, effectively reducing the dark current. Moreover, mid-infrared images were obtained using GeSn photodetectors, showing the comparable image quality with that acquired by using commercial PbSe detectors.

Normal-incidence GeSn photodiode detectors with Sn compositions of 7 and 10% have been demonstrated. Such detectors were based on Ge/GeSn/Ge double heterostructures grown directly on a Si substrate via a chemical vapor deposition system. A temperature-dependence study of these detectors was conducted using both electrical and optical characterizations from 300 to 77 K. Spectral response up to 2.6 µm was achieved for a 10% Sn device at room temperature. The peak responsivity and specific detectivity (D*) were measured to be 0.3 A/W and 4 × 10 cmHzW at 1.55 µm, respectively. The spectral D* of a 7% Sn device at 77 K was only one order-of-magnitude lower than that of an extended-InGaAs photodiode operating in the same wavelength range, indicating the promising future of GeSn-based photodetectors.

Low-cost shortwave infrared detectors have great potential for emerging civilian night-vision applications. This paper reports the characteristics of Ge0.89Sn0.11 photodiodes monolithically grown on a Si substrate that holds great promise for those applications. At room temperature, the 500 μm diameter active area device demonstrated a longwave cutoff of 2.65 μm and a responsivity of 0.32 A/W at 2 μm, which corresponds to an external quantum efficiency of 20% without any contribution from the Ge buffer layer. The measured peak specific detectivity at 300 K and 77 K is 1.7 × 109 Jones and 4.3 × 109 Jones, respectively. The specific detectivity at 77 K is only one-order-of-magnitude lower than that of the market dominating extended-InGaAs photodiode. The detailed device analysis indicated that the 700-nm thick fully relaxed high-quality GeSn absorbing layer and the modified depletion region lead to the above-mentioned device performance.