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Light Emission from Germanium Nanostructures

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Silicon Photonics IV

Part of the book series: Topics in Applied Physics ((TAP,volume 139))

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Abstract

This Chapter discusses the phenomena associated with germanium (Ge) nanocrystals emitting near infrared radiation under optical excitation. We describe how the emission properties are influenced by various effects, including those of strain and particle confinement, as well as excitation mechanisms. Two example systems are discussed, namely one of isolated Ge quantum dots and another of Ge nanocrystals coherently imbedded in SiGe alloy layers, where both systems were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on Si substrates. For the Ge dot ensembles, we show how particle size information can be derived from the emission spectrum. For the Ge nanocrystals, the emission spectra are analyzed for the effects of strain and particle confinement over a wide range of Ge fractions in the surrounding SiGe medium. This analysis provided significant insight into the properties of the Ge nanocrystals, including their size and shape, which were a 1.4 nm thickness in the MBE growth direction and a 7 nm lateral dimension. We also discuss the mechanisms leading to the high quantum efficiency observed for emission from the Ge nanocrystals at low temperatures.

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  1. Measurement Science and Standards, National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada

    Nelson L. Rowell & David J. Lockwood

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  1. Nelson L. Rowell
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Correspondence to Nelson L. Rowell .

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  1. National Research Council of Canada, Metrology Research Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    David J. Lockwood

  2. Department of Physics, University of Trento, Povo, Italy

    Lorenzo Pavesi

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Rowell, N.L., Lockwood, D.J. (2021). Light Emission from Germanium Nanostructures. In: Lockwood, D.J., Pavesi, L. (eds) Silicon Photonics IV. Topics in Applied Physics, vol 139. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68222-4_4

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