GeSn/Ge heterostructure short-wave infrared photodetectors on silicon

Abstract

A surface-illuminated photoconductive detector based on Ge 0.9 Sn 0.1 quantum wells with Ge barriers grown on a silicon substrate is demonstrated. Photodetection up to 2.2µm is achieved with a responsivity of 0.1 A/W for 5V bias. The spectral absorption characteristics are analyzed as a function of the GeSn/Ge heterostructure parameters. This work demonstrates that GeSn/Ge heterostructures can be used to developed SOI waveguide integrated photodetectors for short-wave infrared applications. 2012 Optical Society of America References and links1. J. Menendez and J. Kouvetakis "Type-I Ge/Ge1−x−ySixSny strained-layer hetero-structures with a direct Ge Bandgap", Applied Physics Letters, 85(7), 1175-1177 (2004). 2. G. Sun, R. A. Soref, H. H. Cheng, "Design of a Si-based lattice-matched room temperature GeSn/GeSiSn multiquantum-well mid-infrared laser diode", Optics Express 18(19), 19957-19965 (2010). 39(3), 1871-1883, (1989). 14. M. Krijn, "Heterojunction band offsets and effective masses in III-V quaternary alloys" Semiconductor Science and Technology, 6(1), 27-31 (1991

Growth and applications of GeSn-related group-IV semiconductor materials

“…Ge 1−x Sn x photodetectors provide an improved photoresponse at longer IR wavelengths with increasing Sn content [162][163][164]. A photodetector with a Ge 1−x Sn x /Ge QW structure on an SOI substrate has been also reported [165]. A Ge 1−x Sn x heterojunction LED has been demonstrated with Ge 1−x Sn x epitaxial layers on an Si substrate prepared using low-temperature MBE [166].…”

“…In these applications, the features of Ge 1−x Sn x are used for energy band engineering [162][163][164][165][166][167]. Energy band narrowing with Ge 1−x Sn x extends the available wavelength to a longer range compared with Ge photoelectronic devices.…”

Optical Characterization of Si-Based Ge1−x Sn x Alloys with Sn Compositions up to 12%

“…1 Among the various material systems that could be integrated on Si, the Ge 1Àx Sn x alloy has attracted much attention recently due to the following reasons: (1) Capability of monolithic integration on Si; 2 (2) Availability of direct bandgap material; 3 and (3) tunable bandgap covering broad shortwave-and mid-infrared (IR) wavelength range. 4 During the last decade, the GeSn-based optically pumped laser, 5 light emitting diode, [6][7][8][9][10][11][12] photo detector [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] have been demonstrated, and the GeSn modulator has been investigated 21,22 which make up a complete set of components for Si photonics. For these prototype devices, the material characteristics have turned out to be the decisive factor for the performance of the device.…”

Direct bandgap type-I GeSn/GeSn quantum well on a GeSn- and Ge- buffered Si substrate

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] The successful demonstration of direct bandgap GeSn light emitting diodes (LEDs), and optically-pumped GeSn lasers, [10][11][12][13][14] indicates the great potential of GeSn for Si-based light sources. GeSn LEDs with double heterostructures (DHS) 11,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] and quantum wells (QWs) [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] have been reported. It is generally acknowledged that the QW structures could be applied to the LEDs and lasers to improve their device performance.…”