Silicon is the dominant semiconductor for electronics, but there is now a growing need to integrate such components with optoelectronics for telecommunications and computer interconnections. Silicon-based optical modulators have recently been successfully demonstrated; but because the light modulation mechanisms in silicon are relatively weak, long (for example, several millimetres) devices or sophisticated high-quality-factor resonators have been necessary. Thin quantum-well structures made from III-V semiconductors such as GaAs, InP and their alloys exhibit the much stronger quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE) mechanism, which allows modulator structures with only micrometres of optical path length. Such III-V materials are unfortunately difficult to integrate with silicon electronic devices. Germanium is routinely integrated with silicon in electronics, but previous silicon-germanium structures have also not shown strong modulation effects. Here we report the discovery of the QCSE, at room temperature, in thin germanium quantum-well structures grown on silicon. The QCSE here has strengths comparable to that in III-V materials. Its clarity and strength are particularly surprising because germanium is an indirect gap semiconductor; such semiconductors often display much weaker optical effects than direct gap materials (such as the III-V materials typically used for optoelectronics). This discovery is very promising for small, high-speed, low-power optical output devices fully compatible with silicon electronics manufacture.

Abstract-We present observations of quantum confinement and quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE) electroabsorption in Ge quantum wells with SiGe barriers grown on Si substrates, in good agreement with theoretical calculations. Though Ge is an indirect gap semiconductor, the resulting effects are at least as clear and strong as seen in typical III-V quantum well structures at similar wavelengths. We also demonstrate that the effect can be seen over the C-band around 1.55-µm wavelength in structures heated to 90• C, similar to the operating temperature of silicon electronic chips. The physics of the effects are discussed, including the effects of strain, electron and hole confinement, and exciton binding, and the reasons why the effects should be observable at all in such an indirect gap material. This effect is very promising for practical high-speed, low-power optical modulators fabricated compatible with mainstream silicon electronic integrated circuits.Index Terms-Electroabsorption effect, germanium, optical interconnections, optical modulators, quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE), silicon.

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