Si-based structures for light emission and detection

Abstract: Efforts to improve the optical performance of the indirect bandgap semiconductor silicon (Si) has been a major subject of research in the field of Si photonics due to the promising applications of Si based light emitters and detectors for optical communication. With that motivation three different Si based material systems were investigated; Si:Er/O layered structures, SiGe quantum dots and SiSn nano structures, all grown using the technique of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The main focus of this work has been on Si:Er/O layers, which lead to fabrication of Si-based light emitting diodes (LED) emitting at 1.54 mm wavelength. The work on SiGe structures lead to the fabrication of near-infrared light detectors, whereas the SiSn structures have not shown any strong optical character.Studies include epitaxial growth, structural characterization, device processing, electrical and optical characterizations. Material characterization of Si:Er/O structures using analytical electron microscopy (AEM) revealed interesting results with identification of two different type of microstructures in these layers depending on the Er and O concentrations. Several Si:Er/O LEDs were fabricated with different Er and O concentrations and the optical characteristics were investigated in order to find the best doping levels of Er and O for efficient light emission. The electroluminescence measurements revealed a strong 1.54 mm emission from these devices due to the intra 4f shell transition of Er3+ from the excited state (4I13/2) to the ground state (4I15/2). Si:Er/O waveguide LEDs have also been grown on SOI wafers using the optimized structure parameters obtained from mode confinement simulations as well as the microstructure investigations. The Si:Er/O waveguide LEDs are aimed at fabricating a planar Si cavity with Bragg mirrors on both sides to obtain light amplification and realise an electrically pumped Si laser. A focused ion beam (FIB) instrument was used to fabricate the Bragg mirrors but initial attempts did not result in light amplification in our Si:Er/O waveguide cavities.SiGe quantum dots are well-known quantum structures which are formed in a selfassembled fashion from Si/SiGe layer structures with a variety of shapes, sizes and compositions depending mainly on parameters like growth temperature and layer thicknesses. Optical properties of SiGe quantum structures have been studied while there has been little knowledge about their composition. A detailed compositional investigation of different SiGe dots on a nanometer scale was performed using AEM. The results showed a large degree of interdiffusion in large quantum dots, which was consistent with the optical properties of these dots. Using a multiple stack of Ge quantum dots and SiGe quantum wells, MOSFET type photodetectors working at 1.3 – 1.55 mm wavelength have also been fabricated and characterized.Research on the SiSn system was mainly motivated by the possibility to obtain a direct bandgap transition in Si based material as it was predicted theoretically and experimentally observed in the related GeSn material system by other researchers. Structural and optical characterizations of SiSn nano structures were performed. Although the same SiSn nano structures exhibit a weak signature of optical absorption, low temperature photoluminescence measurements did not reveal any emission peaks related to the SiSn dots.