Review of Si-Based GeSn CVD Growth and Optoelectronic Applications

Abstract

GeSn alloys have already attracted extensive attention due to their excellent properties and wide-ranging electronic and optoelectronic applications. Both theoretical and experimental results have shown that direct bandgap GeSn alloys are preferable for Si-based, high-efficiency light source applications. For the abovementioned purposes, molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), physical vapour deposition (PVD), and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technologies have been extensively explored to grow high-quality GeSn alloys. However, CVD is the dominant growth method in the industry, and it is therefore more easily transferred. This review is focused on the recent progress in GeSn CVD growth (including ion implantation, in situ doping technology, and ohmic contacts), GeSn detectors, GeSn lasers, and GeSn transistors. These review results will provide huge advancements for the research and development of high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices.

Review of Highly Mismatched III-V Heteroepitaxy Growth on (001) Silicon

“…On the other hand, for Si-based OEIC, the Si-based light source is the ultimate obstacle to achieve owing to the fact that Si is an indirect band-gap semiconductor material, and its emission efficiency is very low, which makes it unavailable as the active gain medium for Si-based high-efficient light sources. In contrast, most group III-V materials are definitely suitable for the optoelectronic devices in light-emitting/absorbing devices, including light-emitting diodes (LEDs), lasers, and detectors [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ], owing to their direct bandgap properties, indicating their stronger photon emission and absorption efficiency in comparison than indirect semiconductors such as Si, Ge [ 15 , 16 ], and GeSn [ 17 ]. Thus, taking advantage of the excellent properties of III-V compounds, Si-based III-V CMOS devices and III-V photoelectric devices can further greatly improve the data transmission speed and amount, which effectively reduce integrated electricity and power consumption [ 18 ].…”

Growth and Strain Modulation of GeSn Alloys for Photonic and Electronic Applications

“…GeSn has aroused extensive attention as a result of its direct bandgap properties [ 1 ], compatibility with Si CMOS processes [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ], higher absorption coefficients at short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) windows [ 7 ], and higher carrier mobilities compared with Si and Ge, etc. [ 3 ].…”

Recent Progress in Improving the Performance of Infrared Photodetectors via Optical Field Manipulations

“…According to the different detection objects, it can be divided into five bands: near infrared (NIR), short-wave infrared (SWIR), mid-wave infrared (MWIR), long-wave infrared (LWIR) and far infrared (FIR). The most common detectors in several wave bands are silicon PDs for NIR [6], InGaAs and GeSn PDs for SWIR [7,8], HgCdTe PDs and InSb PDs for MWIR [9,10], and quantum-well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs), quantum cascade photodetectors (QCDs), as well as type II superlattice photodetectors for LWIR [11,12]. Note that the family of photodetectors in NIR to MWIR is very large, and a variety of alternative plans [13,14] for InGaAs and HgCdTe have been proposed.…”