D. Buca

Band engineering and growth of tensile strained Ge/(Si)GeSn heterostructures for tunnel field effect transistors

In this letter, we propose a heterostructure design for tunnel field effect transistors with two low direct bandgap group IV compounds, GeSn and highly tensely strained Ge in combination with ternary SiGeSn alloy. Electronic band calculations show that strained Ge, used as channel, grown on Ge 1−xSnx (x > 9%) buffer, as source, becomes a direct bandgap which significantly increases the tunneling probability. The SiGeSn ternaries are well suitable as drain since they offer a large indirect bandgap. The growth of such heterostructures with the desired band alignment is presented. The crystalline quality of the (Si)Ge(Sn) layers is similar to state-of-the-art SiGe layers.

Tensely strained GeSn alloys as optical gain media

This letter presents the epitaxial growth and characterization of a heterostructure for an electrically injected laser, based on a strained GeSn active well. The elastic strain within the GeSn well can be tuned from compressive to tensile by high quality large Sn content (Si)GeSn buffers. The optimum combination of tensile strain and Sn alloying softens the requirements upon indirect to direct bandgap transition. We theoretically discuss the strain-doping relation for maximum net gain in the GeSn active layer. Employing tensile strain of 0.5% enables reasonable high optical gain values for Ge0.94Sn0.06 and even without any n-type doping for Ge0.92Sn0.08.

GeSn Heterojunction LEDs on Si Substrates

GeSn on Si light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is investigated for different Sn concentrations up to 4.2% and they are compared with an LED made from pure Ge on Si. The LEDs are realized from in-situ doped pin junctions in GeSn on Ge virtual substrates. The device structures are grown with a special ultra-low temperature molecular beam epitaxy process. All LEDs clearly show direct bandgap electroluminescence emission at room temperature. The light intensity of the compressively strained GeSn LEDs increases with higher Sn concentration. The in-plane strain of the LEDs is determined with reciprocal space mapping. The bandgap energies of the emitting GeSn layer are calculated from the emission spectra.

Tensely strained silicon on SiGe produced by strain transfer

An approach for the controlled formation of thin strained silicon layers based on strain transfer in an epitaxial Si∕SiGe∕Si(100) heterostructure during the relaxation of the SiGe layer is established. He+ ion implantation and annealing is employed to initiate the relaxation process. The strain transfer between the two epilayers is explained as an inverse strain relaxation which we modeled in terms of the propagation of the dislocations through the layers. Effcient strain buildup in the Si top layer strongly depends on the Si top layer thickness and on the relaxation degree of the SiGe buffer. 100% strain transfer was observed up to a critical thickness of the strained silicon layer of 8nm for a 150nm relaxed Si0.74Ge0.26 buffer.

Metal-germanium-metal ultrafast infrared detectors

We demonstrate silicon-based ultrafast metal–semiconductor–metal (MSM) photodetectors for near infrared optocommunication wavelengths. They show a response time of 12.5 ps full width at half maximum (FWHM) at both 1300 and 1550 nm wavelengths. The overall external quantum efficiencies are 13% at 1320 nm and 7.5% at 1550 nm. The sensitive volumes are 270 nm thick Ge films, grown on Si(111) by molecular beam epitaxy. Interdigitated Cr metal top electrodes with 1.5–5 μm spacing and identical finger width form Schottky contacts to the Ge film. A Ti-sapphire femtosecond laser with an optical parametric oscillator and an electro-optic sampling system are used to evaluate the temporal response, which is limited by the transit time of the carriers between electrodes. In addition, results on Si–Ge MSM heterostructure detectors with plate capacitor geometry are presented. At 1550 nm an ultrafast response of 9.4 ps FWHM and an overall quantum efficiency of 0.9% are measured.

Study of GeSn based heterostructures: towards optimized group IV MQW LEDs.

We present results on CVD growth and electro-optical characterization of Ge(0.92)Sn(0.08)/Ge p-i-n heterostructure diodes. The suitability of Ge as barriers for direct bandgap GeSn active layers in different LED geometries, such as double heterostructures and multi quantum wells is discussed based on electroluminescence data. Theoretical calculations by effective mass and 6 band k∙p method reveal low barrier heights for this specific structure. Best configurations offer only a maximum barrier height for electrons of about 40 meV at the Γ point at room temperature (e.g. 300 K), evidently insufficient for proper light emitting devices. An alternative solution using SiGeSn as barrier material is introduced, which provides appropriate band alignment for both electrons and holes resulting in efficient confinement in direct bandgap GeSn wells. Finally, epitaxial growth of such a complete SiGeSn/GeSn/SiGeSn double heterostructure including doping is shown.

Measurement of effective electron mass in biaxial tensile strained silicon on insulator

We present measurements of the effective electron mass in biaxial tensile strained silicon on insulator (SSOI) material with 1.2 GPa stress and in unstrained SOI. Hall-bar metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors on 60 nm SSOI and SOI were fabricated and Shubnikov–de Haas oscillations in the temperature range of T=0.4–4 K for magnetic fields of B=0–10 T were measured. The effective electron mass in SSOI and SOI samples was determined as mt=(0.20±0.01)m0. This result is in excellent agreement with first-principles calculations of the effective electron mass in the presence of strain.

Line and Point Tunneling in Scaled Si/SiGe Heterostructure TFETs

In this letter, we systematically investigate the impact of gate length and channel orientation on the electrical performance of tunneling field-effect transistors (TFETs). We fabricate and characterize Si/SiGe heterostructure TFETs with p-doped compressively strained Si0.5Ge0.5 source, intrinsic Si channel, and n-doped Si drain. We observe a linear relation of gate length, Lg, and ON-current, ION, which is the first experimental proof of line tunneling occurring in a TFET. TCAD simulations support our observations. After forming gas annealing, short-channel TFETs exhibit different I-V characteristics compared with long-channel devices due to better passivation.

Strain and composition effects on Raman vibrational modes of silicon-germanium-tin ternary alloys

We investigated Raman vibrational modes in silicon-germanium-tin layers grown epitaxially on germanium/silicon virtual substrates using reduced pressure chemical vapor deposition. Several excitation wavelengths were utilized to accurately analyze Raman shifts in ternary layers with uniform silicon and tin content in 4–19 and 2–12 at. % ranges, respectively. The excitation using a 633 nm laser was found to be optimal leading to a clear detection and an unambiguous identification of all first order modes in the alloy. The influence of both strain and composition on these modes is discussed. The strain in the layers is evaluated from Raman shifts and reciprocal space mapping data and the obtained results are discussed in the light of recent theoretical calculations.

Boron activation and diffusion in silicon and strained silicon-on-insulator by rapid thermal and flash lamp annealings

We present experimental results on the activation and diffusion behaviors of boron in silicon-on-insulator and strained silicon-on-insulator using standard rapid thermal processing treatments as well as flash lamp annealing. After boron implantation at different doses and at a low energy of 1 keV, samples were annealed to activate the dopants, and secondary ion mass spectrometry and Hall measurements were carried out to determine boron diffusion and the amount of activated dopants, respectively. In contrast to rapid thermal annealing, flash lamp annealing enables the activation without significant diffusion of dopants. In addition, we investigated the effect of coating the samples with antireflection layers to increase the absorbed energy during flash annealing. As a result, the activation was increased significantly to values comparable with the activation obtained with standard annealing. Furthermore, the relation between the observed boron diffusion and activation as a function of the implantation and ...