N. A. Baidakova

Optical monitoring of technological parameters during molecular-beam epitaxy

It is shown that one can use low-coherence tandem interferometry to measure the substrate temperature during the course of molecular-beam epitaxy in the case of oblique incidence of the probing light onto the surface. The temperature conditions in the Ob’-M installation for growing heteroepitaxial structures of cadmium and mercury tellurides and in the RIBER SIVA-21 installation for the growth of silicon-germanium structures are investigated. Calibration curves relating the readings of the standard thermocouple fixed within the heater to the true substrate temperature in the range 0–500°C are created.

Optically active centers in Si/Si1 − x Ge x :Er heterostructures containing Er3+ ions

The basic types of optically active erbium centers that make the major contribution to the photo-luminescence signal from the Si/Si1 − xGex:Er heterostructures with the Ge content from 10 to 30% are analyzed in detail. It is shown that the origin of the optically active centers containing Er3+ ions correlates with the molar composition of the Si1 − xGex:Er layer and the content of oxygen impurity in the layer. The major contribution to the photoluminescence signal from the Si/Si1 − xGex:Er heterostructures with the Ge content below 25% is made by the well-known centers containing Er3+ ions and oxygen. An increase in the Ge content in the Si1 − xGex:Er layer (x ≥ 25%) yields the formation of a new type of centers, specifically, the Gecontaining optically active erbium centers unobserved in the Si-based structures previously.

Strained multilayer structures with pseudomorphic GeSiSn layers

The temperature and composition dependences of the critical thickness of the 2D–3D transition for a GeSiSn film on Si(100) have been studied. The regularities of the formation of multilayer structures with pseudomorphic GeSiSn layers directly on a Si substrate, without relaxed buffer layers, were investigated for the first time. The possibility of forming multilayer structures based on pseudomorphic GeSiSn layers has been shown and the lattice parameters have been determined using transmission electron microscopy. The grown structures demonstrate photoluminescence for Sn contents from 3.5 to 5% in GeSiSn layers.

Selective Etching of Si, SiGe, Ge and Its Usage for Increasing the Efficiency of Silicon Solar Cells

Dependences of the etch rates for KOH and HF:H2O2:CH3COOH solutions on SiGe layer composition were investigated. The obtained results has been proposed to use for formation of the submicron relief on the silicon surface via selective etching of the structures with Ge(Si) self-assembled nanoislands. In the framework of the proposed approach the Ge(Si) nanoislands serve as a mask for selective etching of Si in a mixture of an aqueous solution of KOH with isopropyl alcohol, followed by the islands removal from the surface by the selective etching in HF:H2O2:CH3COOH. It was demonstrated experimentally that such approach allows to produce the submicron relief on a silicon surface, which leads to the significant decrease of the reflectivity in a wide spectral range. It is believed that the proposed method of surface relief formation can be used to improve the efficiency of the thin-film solar cells based on the crystalline silicon.

Excitation spectra of photoluminescence and its kinetics in structures with self-assembled Ge:Si nanoislands

The spectral and time characteristics of photoluminescence associated with the radiative recombination of charge carriers in SiGe/Si(001) multilayer structures with self-assembled Ge:Si islands are investigated. The time dependences of the photoluminescence of Ge:Si islands in a wide range of delay times after the pump pulse are considered at various optical-excitation levels. The photoluminescence-excitation spectra from Ge(Si) islands in the SiGe/Si(001) structures are investigated in the region of band-to-band and subband optical pumping corresponding to various time components in the photoluminescence-relaxation kinetics. A significant difference in the shape of the excitation spectra is revealed for fast (0–100 μs) and slow (100 μs–50 ms) components of the photoluminescence signal from the islands. The significant dependence of the photoluminescence-excitation spectra of Ge(Si)/Si(001) islands on the optical-pump power is shown to be associated with the prolonged diffusion of nonequilibrium charge carriers from bulk-silicon layers to Ge:Si islands at high excitation levels.

Time-resolved photoluminescence from self-assembled Ge(Si) islands in multilayer SiGe/Si and SiGe/SOI structures

The results of a study of the spectral and temporal characteristics of the photoluminescence (PL) from multilayer structures with self-assembled Ge(Si) islands grown on silicon and “silicon-on-insulator” substrates in relation to temperature and the excitation-light wavelength are presented. A substantial increase in island-related PL intensity is observed for structures with Ge(Si) islands grown on silicon substrates upon an increase in temperature from 4 to 70 K. This increase is due to the diffusion of nonequilibrium carriers from the silicon substrate into the active layer with the islands. In this case, a slow component with a characteristic time of ∼100 ns appears in the PL rise kinetics. At the same time, no slow component in the PL rise kinetics and no rise in the PL intensity with increasing temperature are observed for structures grown on “silicon-on-insulator” substrates, in which the active layer with the islands is insulated from the silicon substrate. It is found that absorption of the excitation light in the islands and SiGe wetting layers mainly contributes to the excitation of the PL signal from the islands under sub-bandgap optical pump conditions.

Growth of light-emitting SiGe heterostructures on strained silicon-on-insulator substrates with a thin oxide layer

The possibility of using substrates based on “strained silicon on insulator” structures with a thin (25 nm) buried oxide layer for the growth of light-emitting SiGe structures is studied. It is shown that, in contrast to “strained silicon on insulator” substrates with a thick (hundreds of nanometers) oxide layer, the temperature stability of substrates with a thin oxide is much lower. Methods for the chemical and thermal cleaning of the surface of such substrates, which make it possible to both retain the elastic stresses in the thin Si layer on the oxide and provide cleaning of the surface from contaminating impurities, are perfecte. It is demonstrated that it is possible to use the method of molecular-beam epitaxy to grow light-emitting SiGe structures of high crystalline quality on such substrates.

Electroluminescence of structures with self-assembled Ge(Si) nanoislands confined between strained Si layers

The electroluminescence of structures with self-assembled Ge(Si) nanoislands grown on relaxed SiGe/Si(001) buffer layers and confined between strained Si layers is studied for the first time. The electroluminescence signal from the structures is observed in the wavelength range from 1.6 to 2.0 μm, i.e., at longer wavelengths compared to those in the case of structures with Ge(Si) islands formed on Si (001) substrates. This give grounds to consider the structures with Ge(Si) islands confined between strained Si layers as candidates for the production of Si-based sources of emission at wavelengths of >1.55 μm.