Semiconductor light-emitters compatible with standard Si integration technology (SIT) are of particular interest for overcoming limitations in the operating speed of microelectronic devices. Light sources based on group IV elements would be SIT-compatible, but suffer from the poor optoelectronic properties of bulk Si and Ge. Here we demonstrate that epitaxially grown Ge quantum dots (QDs) in a defect-free Si matrix show extraordinary optical properties if partially amorphized by Ge-ion bombardment (GIB). In contrast to conventional SiGe nanostructures, these QDs exhibit dramatically shortened carrier lifetimes and negligible thermal quenching of the photoluminescence (PL) up to room temperature. Microdisk resonators with embedded GIB-QDs exhibit threshold behavior as well as a superlinear increase of the integrated PL intensity with concomitant line width narrowing as the pump power increases. These findings demonstrate light amplification by stimulated emission in a fully SIT-compatible group IV nanosystem.

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We report on the metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) of GaN:Fe and (Ga,Fe)N layers on c-sapphire substrates and their thorough characterization via high-resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), spatially-resolved energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), secondary-ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), photoluminescence (PL), Hall-effect, electron-paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and magnetometry employing a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). A combination of TEM and EDS reveals the presence of coherent nanocrystals presumably FexN with the composition and lattice parameter imposed by the host. From both TEM and SIMS studies, it is stated that the density of nanocrystals and, thus the Fe concentration increases towards the surface. According to Hall effect measurements, electrons from residual donors are trapped by mid-gap Fe acceptor states in the limit of low iron content x 0.4%, indicating that the concentration of Fe 2+ ions increases at the expense of Fe ions in the 3+ charge state. This effect is witnessed by photoluminescence (PL) measurements as changes in the intensity of the Fe 3+ -related intra-ionic transition, which can be controlled by co-doping with Si donors and Mg acceptors. In this regime, EPR of Fe 3+ ions and Curie-like magnetic susceptibility are observed. As a result of the spin-orbit interaction, Fe 2+ does not produce any EPR response. However, the presence of Fe ions in the 2+ charge state may account for a temperature-independent Van Vleck-type paramagnetic signal that we observe by SQUID magnetometry. Surprisingly, at higher Fe concentrations, the electron density is found to increase substantially with the Fe content. The co-existence of electrons in the conduction band and Fe in the 3+ charge state is linked to the gradient in the Fe concentration. In layers with iron content x 0.4% the presence of ferromagnetic signatures, such as magnetization hysteresis and spontaneous magnetization, have been detected. A set of precautions has been undertaken in order to rule out possible sources of spurious ferromagnetic contributions. Under these conditions, a ferromagnetic-like response is shown to arise from the (Ga,Fe)N epilayers, it increases with the iron concentration, it persists up to room temperature, and it is anisotropic -i.e., the saturation value of the magnetization is higher for in-plane magnetic field. We link the presence of ferromagnetic signatures to the formation of Fe-rich nanocrystals, as evidenced by TEM and EDS studies. This interpretation is supported by magnetization measurements after cooling in-and without an external magnetic field, pointing to superparamagnetic properties of the system. It is argued that the high temperature ferromagnetic response due to spinodal decomposition into regions with small and large concentration of the magnetic component is a generic property of diluted magnetic semiconductors and diluted magnetic oxides showing high apparent Curie temperature.

From spin resonance of two-dimensional ͑2D͒ conduction electrons in a modulation doped SiGe/Si/SiGe quantum well structure we find a 2D anisotropy of both the line broadening ͑dephasing time͒ and the g factor. Both can be explained consistently employing the Bychkov-Rashba ͑BR͒ term H BR ϭ␣(kϫ)•e z , which turns out here to be the dominant coupling between electron orbital motion and spin. We obtain a BR parameter of ␣ϭ0.55ϫ10 Ϫ12 eV cm-three orders of magnitude smaller than in quantum well structures based on III-V semiconductors, consistent with the much smaller spin-orbit coupling in Si.

Recently, it was shown that lasing from epitaxial Ge quantum dots (QDs) on Si substrates can be obtained if they are partially amorphized by Ge ion bombardment (GIB). Here, we present a model for the microscopic origin of the radiative transitions leading to enhanced photoluminescence (PL) from such GIB-QDs. We provide an energy level scheme for GIB-QDs in a crystalline Si matrix that is based on atomistic modeling with Monte Carlo (MC) analysis and density functional theory (DFT). The level scheme is consistent with a broad variety of PL experiments performed on as-grown and annealed GIB-QDs. Our results show that an extended point defect consisting of a split-[110] self-interstitial surrounded by a distorted crystal lattice of about 45 atoms leads to electronic states at the Γ-point of the Brillouin zone well below the conduction band minimum of crystalline Ge. Such defects in Ge QDs allow direct transitions of electrons localized at the split-interstitial with holes confined in the Ge QD. We identify the relevant growth and annealing parameters that will let GIB-QDs be employed as an efficient laser active medium.