The threshold carrier density, conventionally evaluated from optical pumping, is a key reference parameter towards electrically pumped lasers with the widely acknowledged assumption that optically excited charge carriers relax to the band edge through an ultrafast process. However, the characteristically slow carrier cooling in perovskites challenges this assumption. Here, we investigate the optical pumping of state-of-the-art bromide- and iodine-based perovskites. We find that the threshold decreases by one order of magnitude with decreasing excitation energy from 3.10 eV to 2.48 eV for methylammonium lead bromide perovskite (MAPbBr(3)), indicating that the low-energy photon excitation facilitates faster cooling and hence enables efficient carrier accumulation for population inversion. Our results are then interpreted due to the coupling of phonon scattering in connection with the band structure of perovskites. This effect is further verified in the two-photon pumping process, where the carriers relax to the band edge with a smaller difference in phonon momentum that speeds up the carrier cooling process. Furthermore, by extrapolating the optical pumping threshold to the band edge excitation as an analog of the electrical carrier injection to the perovskite, we obtain a critical threshold carrier density of similar to 1.9 x 10(17) cm(-3), which is one order of magnitude lower than that estimated from the conventional approach. Our work thus highlights the feasibility of metal halide perovskites for electrically pumped lasers.

Well-resolved photoluminescence excitation (PLE) spectra are reported for selfassembled SiGe dots grown on Si(100) by molecular beam epitaxy. The observation of two excitation resonance peaks is attributed to two different excitation/de-excitation routes of interband optical transitions connected to the spatially direct and indirect recombination processes. It is concluded that two dot populations are addressed by each monitored luminescence energy for the PLE acquisition.

The presence of charge transfer states generated by the interaction between the fullerene acceptor PCBM and two alternating copolymers of fluorene with donor-acceptor-donor comonomers are reported; the generation leads to modifications in the polymer bandgap and electronic structure. In one of polymer/fullerene blends, the driving; force for photocurrent generation, i.e., the gap between the lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals of the donor and acceptor, is only 0.1 eV, but photocurrent is generated. It is shown that the presence of a charge transfer state is more important than the driving force. The charge transfer states are visible through new emission peaks in the photoluminescence spectra and through electroluminescence at a forward bias. The photoluminescence can be quenched under reverse bias, and can be directly correlated to the mechanism of photocurrent generation. The excited charge transfer state is easily dissociated into free charge carriers, and is an important intermediate state through which free charge carriers are generated.

A normal incidence photodetector operating at 8-14 μm is demonstrated using p-type δ-doped SiGe dot multilayer structures grown by molecular beam epitaxy on Si(001) substrates. Based on the experimental results of photoluminescence and photoluminescence excitation spectroscopies together with numerical analysis, the origin of the measured photocurrent was attributed to intersubband optical transitions between the heavy hole and light hole states of the valence band of the self-assembled SiGe dots and subsequent lateral transport of photo-excited carriers in the conduction channels formed by Ge wetting layers.

Photoluminescence excitation (PLE) experiments are reported for various self-assembled SiGe/Si dot samples grown on Si(001) by molecular beam epitaxy at substrate temperatures ranging from 430 to 580 C. Two excitation peaks were observed, and the characteristics of the involved optical transitions were studied in detail by PLE (in one case implemented together with selective photoluminescence, SPL) on different samples containing either only one SiGe dot layer or multiple SiGe-dot/Si stacks. The temperature- and power-dependence of the excitation properties together with the results of six-band k.p calculations support the assignment of the observed PLE peaks to spatially direct and indirect transitions collected from two different SiGe dot populations.

Photoluminescence (PL) properties of mesoporous silica (MS) samples incorporated with Si or Ge nanocrystals (nc) have been investigated with various excitation powers and post-RTA processes. The analysis of experimental results revealed a superlinear intensity dependence (m = 1.7) in the MS reference sample without nanocrystals, while a sublinear behavior (m = 0.8) is observed for the nc-Si in MS. It thus suggests the same recombination responsible for the luminescence at similar to 2.75 eV for both samples, but different kinetic limitations for the carrier transfer processes. Si nanocrystals play in this case an important role in generating more photo-excited carriers, enhancing the PL intensity.

A double-low-temperature-buffer variable-temperature growth scheme was studied for fabrication of strain-relaxed thin Si0.6Ge0.4 layer on Si(001) by using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), with particular focuses on the influence of growth temperature of individual low-temperature-buffer layers on the relaxation process and final structural qualities. The low-temperature buffers consisted of a 40 nm Si layer grown at an optimized temperature of similar to 400 degrees C, followed by a 20 nm Si0.6Ge0.4 layer grown at temperatures ranging from 50 to 550 degrees C. A significant relaxation increase together with a surface roughness decrease both by a factor of similar to 2, accompanied with the cross-hatch/cross-hatch-free surface morphology transition, took place for the sample containing a low-temperature Si0.6Ge0.4 layer that was grown at similar to 200 degrees C. This dramatic change was explained by the association with a certain onset stage of the ordered/disordered growth transition during the low-temperature MBE, where the high density of misfit dislocation segments generated near surface cusps largely facilitated the strain relaxation of the top Si0.6Ge0.4 layer.

By utilizing different distribution of strain fields around the edges of oxide, which are dominated by a series of sizes of oxide-patterned windows, long-range ordered self-assembly Ge nanostructures, such as nano-rings, nano-disks and nano-dots, were selectively grown by ultra high vacuum chemical vapor deposition (UHV-CVD) on Si (001) substrates. High-resolution double-crystal symmetrical omega/2 theta scans and two-dimensional reciprocal space mapping (2D-RSM) technologies employing the triple axis X-ray diffractometry have been used to evaluate the quality and strain status of as-deposited as well as in-situ annealed Ge nanostructures. Furthermore, we also compare the quality and strain status of Ge epilayers grown on planar unpatterned Si substrates. It was found that the quality of all Ge epitaxial structures is improved after in-situ annealing process and the quality of Ge nano-disk structures is better than that of Ge epilayers; on planar unpatterned Si substrates, because oxide sidewalls are effective dislocation sinks. We also noted that the degree of relaxation for as-deposited Ge epilayers on planar unpatterned Si substrates is less than that for as-deposited Ge nano-disk structures. After in-situ annealing process,all Ge epitaxial structures are almost at full relaxation whatever Ge epitaxial structures grew on patterned or unpatterned Si substrates.

A Si/SiGe bound-to-continuum quantum cascade design for THz emission was grown using solid-source molecular beam epitaxy on Si0.8Ge0.2 virtual substrates. The growth parameters were carefully studied and several samples with different boron doping concentrations were grown at optimized conditions. Extensive material characterizations revealed a high crystalline quality of the grown structures with an excellent growth control. Layer undulations resulting from a nonuniform strain field, introduced by high doping concentration, were observed. The device characterizations suggested that a modification on the design was needed in order to enhance the THz emission.

In this article, we present a genetic algorithm (GA) as one branch of artificial intelligence (AI) for the optimization-design of the artificial magnetic metamaterial whose structure is automatically generated by computer through the filling element methodology. A representative design example, metamaterials with permeability of negative unity, is investigated and the optimized structures found by the GA are presented. It is also demonstrated that our approach is effective for the synthesis of functional magnetic and electric metamaterials with optimal structures. This GA-based optimization-design technique shows great versatility and applicability in the design of functional metamaterials. © 2008 Optical Society of America.

[ABST].

We report the quantitative and direct determination of hole intersubband relaxation times in a voltage biased SiGe heterostructure using density matrix calculations applied to a four-level system in order to interpret photocurrent (PC) pump-pump experiments. One consistent set of parameters allows the simulation of two kinds of experiments, namely pump-pump photocurrent experiments at a free electron laser (wavelength 7.9 mu m) and the laser-power dependence of the PC signal. This strongly confirms the high reliability of these parameter values, of which the most interesting in respect to Si based quantum cascade laser development is the extracted heavy-hole relaxation time. The simulations show that this relaxation time directly determines the experimentally observed decay of the pump-pump photocurrent signal as a function of the delay time. For a heavy hole intersubband spacing of 160 meV, a value of 550 fs was obtained. The experimental method was further applied to determine the LH1-HH1 relaxation time of a second sample with a transition energy below the optical phonon energy. The observed relaxation time of 16 ps is consistent with the value found for the same structure by transmission pump-probe experiments.

The authors report a two-terminal metal-oxide-semiconductor photodetector for which light is absorbed in a capping layer of silicon nanocrystals embedded in a mesoporous silica matrix on p-type silicon substrates. Operated at reverse bias, enhanced photoresponse from 300 to 700 nm was observed. The highest optoelectronic conversion efficiency is as high as 200%. The enhancements were explained by a transistorlike mechanism, in which the inversion layer acts as the emitter and trapped positive charges in the mesoporous dielectric layer assist carrier injection from the inversion layer to the contact, such that the primary photocurrent could be amplified.

The authors studied the optical emission of GeSi quantum dots under externally applied biaxial stress using samples grown with different temperatures varying from 430 to 700 °C. The optical emission energy of samples grown at low temperatures is rather insensitive to the applied external stress, consistent with the type-II band alignment. However, for samples grown at high temperatures we observed a large blueshift, which suggests type-I alignment. The result implies that recombination strength can be controlled by the growth temperature, which can be useful for optical device applications. © 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Strain relaxation of SiGe/Si(110) has been studied by x-ray reciprocal space mapping. To get information about the in-plane lattice mismatch in different directions, two-dimensional maps around, e.g., (260) and (062) reciprocal lattice points have been obtained from Si_0.8Ge_0.2/Si(110) samples, which were exposed to different annealing conditions. The in-plane lattice mismatch was found to be asymmetric with the major strain relaxation observed in the lateral [001] direction. This was associated with the formation and propagation of dislocations oriented along [10]. The relaxation of as-grown structures during postannealing is thus different from relaxation during growth, which is mainly along [10].

Ge islands fabricated on Si(100) by molecular beam epitaxy at different growth temperatures, were studied using crosssectional scanning transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry combined with electron energy loss spectrometry experiments. The island size, shape, strain, and material composition define the dot-related optical transition energies, but they are all strongly dependent on the growth temperature. We have performed quantitative investigations of the material composition of Ge/Si(001) quantum dots. The samples were grown at temperatures ranging from 430 to 730 °C, with one buried and one uncapped layer of Ge islands separated by 140 nm intrinsic Si. The measurements showed a Ge concentration very close to 100 % in the islands of samples grown at 430 °C. With a growth temperature of 530 °C, a ~20 % reduction of the Ge fraction was observed, which is due to intermixing of Si and Ge. This is consistent with our previous photoluminescence results, which revealed a significant blue shift of the Ge dot-related emission peak in this growth temperature range. The Ge concentration decreases more slowly when the growth temperature is increased above 600 °C, which can be explained by geometrical arguments. The longer distance between the interface and the core of these larger sized dome-shaped islands implies that less Si atoms reach the dot center. In general, the uncapped Ge dots have similar widths as the embedded islands, but the height is almost exclusively larger. Furthermore, the Ge concentration is slightly lower for the overgrown dots.

The present work is a photoluminescence study of Si-embedded Stranski-Krastanov Ge quantum dots. The value of the conduction band offset is a result of the magnitude of the tensile strain in the Si surrounding the compressive strained Ge dot. Due to the increased Si/Ge intermixing and reduced strain in the Si barrier, a reduction of the conduction band offset is observed at increased growth temperatures. The optical properties as derived from photoluminescence spectroscopy are correlated with structural properties obtained as a function of the growth temperature. High growth temperatures result in large Ge dots with low density due to the pronounced surface diffusion and Si/Ge intermixing. As confirmed by photoluminescence, the band gap of the Ge dots increases with increased growth temperature due to the higher degree of Si/Ge intermixing. The band alignment is of type II in these structures, but the occurrence of both spatially indirect and spatially direct transitions are confirmed in temperature-dependent photoluminescence measurements with varied excitation power conditions. An increasing temperature results in a gradual transition from the spatially indirect to the spatially direct recombination in the type-II band lineup, due to higher oscillator strength for the spatially direct transition combined with a higher population factor at higher temperatures.

Si/SiGe quantum cascade structures containing superlattice up to 100 periods have been grown on SiGe virtual substrates by using solid-source molecular beam epitaxy at low temperature. The surface morphology and structural properties of the grown samples were characterized using various experimental techniques. It has been concluded that the structures were completely symmetrically strained with high crystalline quality, precise layer parameters, and excellent reproducibility. Electroluminescence was observed with peaked intensity at 3 THz at both 4 and 40 K, which agrees very well with expected interwell intersubband transition according to the design.

Three strain-symmetrized Si/SiGe multi-quantum well structures, designed for probing the carrier lifetime of intrawell intersubband transitions between heavy hole 1 (HH1) and light hole 1 (LH1) states with transition energies below the optical phonon energy, were grown by molecular beam epitaxy at low temperature on fully relaxed SiGe virtual substrates. The grown structures were characterized by using various experimental techniques, showing a high crystalline quality and very precise growth control. The lifetime of the LH1 excited state was determined directly with pump-probe spectroscopy. The measurements indicated an increase of the lifetime by a factor of 2 due to the increasingly unconfined LH1 state, which agreed very well with the design. It also showed a very long lifetime of several hundred picoseconds for the holes excited out of the well to transit back to the well through a diagonal process.

A three-terminal metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor type of photodetector has been fabricated with a multiple stack of Ge dot/SiGe quantum-well heterostructures as the active region for light detection at 1.3–1.55  µm. Gate-dependent edge incidence photoconductivity measurements at room temperature revealed a strong dependence of the photoresponse on the gate voltage. At positive gate bias, the hole transport from the dots into the wells was improved, resulting in a faster response. The high photoresponsivity at negative VG, measured to be 350  mA  W–1 at 1.31  µm and 30  mA  W–1 at 1.55  µm, was ascribed to the photoconductive gain.

Producing an electrically pumped silicon-based laser at terahertz frequencies is gaining increased attention these days. This paper reviews the recent advances in the search for a silicon-based terahertz laser. Topics covered include resonant tunneling in p-type Si/SiGe, terahertz intersubband electroluminescence from quantum cascade structures, intersubband lifetime measurements in Si/SiGe quantum wells, enhanced optical guiding using buried suicide layers, and the potential for exploiting common impurity dopants in silicon such as boron and phosphorus to realize a terahertz laser. © 2006 IEEE.

Electroluminescence studies of MBE-grown Er/O-doped Si-diodes at reverse bias have been done. For some devices there is much reduced thermal quenching of the emission at 1.54 µm. There are examples where the temperature dependence is abnormal in that the intensity for a constant current even increases with temperature up to e.g. 80 oC. These devices have been studied with cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy to see the microstructure of the Er/O-doped layers as well as the B-doped SiGe-layers that are used as electron emitters during reverse bias. Although there are defects in the layers there is no evidence for large thick precipitates of SiO2. While reduced thermal quenching often is attributed to having the Er-ions within SiO2 layers, this is not the case for our structures as evidenced by our TEM-studies. The origin of the abnormal temperature dependence is attributed to the two mechanisms of breakdown in the reverse-biased diodes. At low temperature the breakdown current is mainly due to avalanche resulting in low-energy electrons and holes that quenches the intensity by Auger de-excitation of the Er-ions. At higher temperature the breakdown current is mainly phonon-assisted tunnelling which results in a more efficient pumping with less de-excitation of the Er-ions. Finally at the highest temperatures the thermal quenching sets in corresponding to an activation energy of 125 meV, which is slightly lower than 150 meV that has been reported in other studies.

A few nanometer thick Sn_xSi_1−x layers with x 0.1 grown on silicon (1 0 0) surfaces can be used to form tin (α-Sn) quantum dots as a result of heat treatment of such structures up to 800 °C. These quantum dots with a well-defined shape are expected to be a candidate for obtaining a low-energy direct band gap structure in Si. Absorption measurements reported by Ragan et al. have shown the onset of absorption at 0.27 eV indicating that the MBE-grown α-Sn quantum dots could be used, e.g. in infrared detectors or emitters. We have performed low temperature photoluminescence (PL) studies of some of the structures produced in this first study and observed no emission peak near 0.27 eV. The PL spectra are instead characterised by a broadband emission in the range 0.7–1 eV. Furthermore there are narrow features that have previously been described as the 789 meV C–O band and 1018 meV W or I1 band. The broad emission at 0.7–1 eV is attributed to the presence of defects introduced by the grown layers, which have suppressed the emission peaks related to the substrate as well. We have also grown α-Sn quantum dot samples on Si (1 0 0) substrates with very low doping concentrations. These samples show PL spectra with Si-substrate related peaks and a relatively lower broad feature at 0.7–1 eV. However, no emission was observed near 0.27 eV.

We have directly determined with pump/probe spectroscopy the light hole (LH1) excited state lifetime for the lowest heavy hole to light hole intrawell subband transition (HH1-LH1) for three prototype samples of Si/SiGe strain-symmetrized multi-quantum well structures, designed to have the final LH1 state increasingly unconfined. The transition energy is below the optical phonon energy. We find that a decay time of 20 ps for sample 1 with a well width of 5.0 nm lengthens to 40 ps for sample 3 with a well width of 3.0 nm, in good agreement with the design. In addition, we have measured the lifetime for holes excited out of the well, from which we determine the lifetime for diagonal transitions (back into the well) to be of approx. several hundred picoseconds.

We report on the quantum-confined Stark effect for spatially indirect transitions in Stranski-Krastanov grown type-II Si∕Ge quantum dots. A linear blueshift of the spatially indirect transition is observed at increasing electric field in contrast to the commonly observed redshift for type-I transitions. A shift of the emission-peak position and different quenching rates of the photoluminescence for p-i-n and n-i-p diodes at increased electric field and temperature indicate a deeper notch potential for electrons above the dot than below due to a strain-induced asymmetry in the band alignment.

A problem in the Ge MOSFET process is that the phosphor-us for n-type doping in Ge diffuses very fast. It is very difficult to form the shallow source/drain p-n junctions. It is reported, for the first time, that the phosphorus diffusion in Ge during activation (or annealing) can be suppressed effectively owing to carbon incorporation.

Multiple modulation-doped Ge-dot/SiGe-QW stack structures were grown using MBE, and processed as FET devices for mid/far infrared detection. From a non-optimized device, a broadband photoresponse has been observed in the mid-infrared range of 3-15 μm. A peak responsivity was estimated to be as high as 100 mA/W at T= 20 K. This work indicates that SiGE QD/QW structures using the lateral transport geometry can be a potential candidate for photodetectors operating in far-infrared range.

We present a photoluminescence (PL) study of Ge quantum dots embedded in Si. Two different types of recombination processes related to the Ge quantum dots are observed in temperature-dependent PL measurements. The Ge dot-related luminescence peak near 0.80 eV is ascribed to the spatially indirect recombination in the type-II band lineup, while a high-energy peak near 0.85 eV has its origin in the spatially direct recombination. A transition from the spatially indirect to the spatially direct recombination is observed as the temperature is increased. The PL dependence of the excitation power shows an upshift of the Ge quantum dot emission energy with increasing excitation power density. The blueshift is ascribed to band bending at the type-II Si/Ge interface at high carrier densities. Comparison is made with results derived from measurements on uncapped samples. For these uncapped samples, no energy shifts due to excitation power or temperatures are observed in contrast to the capped samples.

Ge quantum dots embedded in Si are studied by means of photoluminescence (PL). The temperature dependent PL measurements show two different types of recombination processes related to the quantum dots. We ascribe a peak near 0.80 eV to the spatially indirect recombination in the type-II band lineup where the electron is located in the surrounding Si close to the interface and the hole in the Ge dot. Furthermore, a peak near 0.85 eV is attributed to the spatially direct recombination. We observe a transition from the spatially indirect to the spatially direct recombination as the temperature is increased. The measurements also show an up-shift of the Ge quantum dot emission energy with increasing excitation power density. The blueshift is primarily ascribed to an enhanced confinement of the electron associated with the increased band bending at the type-II Si/Ge interface at high carrier densities. Comparison is made with results, derived from measurements on uncapped samples. For these uncapped samples, no energy shifts due to excitation power or temperatures are observed in contrast to the capped samples. ⌐ 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

The aim of this work is to develop a Si/SiGe HBT-type phototransistor with several Ge dot layers incorporated in the collector, in order to obtain improved light detectivity at 1.3–1.55 μm. The MBE grown HBT detectors are of n–p–n type and based on a multilayer structure containing 10 Ge-dot layers (8 ML in each layer, separated by 60 nm Si spacer) in the base-collector junction. The transistors were processed for normal incidence or with waveguide geometry where the light is coupled through the edge of the sample. The measured breakdown voltage, BV_ceo, was about 6 V. Compared to a p–i–n reference photodiode with the same dot layer structure, photoconductivity measurements show that the responsivity is improved by a factor of 60 for normal incidence at 1.3 μm. When the light is coupled through the edge of the device, the detectivity is even further enhanced. The measured photo-responsivity is more than 100 and 5 mA/W at 1.3 and 1.55 μm, respectively.

The optical properties of Ge quantum dots embedded in Si were investigated by means of photoluminescence, with temperature and excitation power density as variable parameters. Two different types of recombination processes related to the Ge quantum dots were observed. A transfer from the spatially indirect to the spatially direct recombination in the type-II band lineup was observed with increasing temperature. A blueshift of the spatially indirect Ge quantum-dot-emission energy with increasing excitation power is ascribed to band bending at the type-II Si/Ge interface for high carrier densities. Comparative studies were performed on uncapped Ge dot structures.

For 2+ GHz-bandwidth applications, the commonly used bipolar Si RF-power transistors in the output amplifiers in cellular base stations for mobile communications are pushed to the limit of performance. The objective of this work was to study the feasibility of using SiGe/Si grown on pre-processed Si wafers for power-HBTs operating at 25 V for improved performance. The large size HBT devices (2 × 0.1 mm2) were processed using an existing 100 mm poly-Si emitter RF power BJT technology with Au metallization and some necessary modified steps for SiGe implementation. The base layers with designed Ge and B profiles were deposited either by MBE or CVD. The devices showed very high BVcbo (>80 V) with very low leakage currents. The current gain was very stable over a wide IC range, and weakly influenced by the environmental temperature. At 2 GHz, the CW output power of 20 W (at 25 V) was obtained with an efficiency of 68% in class AB operation. The long-term temperature stability was excellent. SiGe RF power-HBTs could be operated at full output power for an extended time without any external temperature bias compensation, which is virtually impossible with conventional Si-BJTs. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

The combination of a low temperature (LT) Si layer and an oxygen doped compliant layer grown at LT (200-250°C) was studied for the growth of thin, flat and highly relaxed Si1-xGex layers. Samples with 15-45 nm thick oxygen doped layers were used for 100-140 nm thick relaxed Si1-xGex layers. 2-D XRD mapping determined the degree of relaxation and composition of the Si1-xGex layers. AFM was used to study the roughness of the highly relaxed layers. It was observed that the roughness decreased with decreasing thickness of the LT Si layer. Layers, which show moderate relaxation during growth and are further relaxed by annealing at 875°C show the lowest roughness. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

The formation of Ge islands during MBE growth is a spontaneous process and these islands, i.e. dots, are usually randomly arranged. In order to implement these nanoscaled islands into device applications, ordering of epitaxial dots is a crucial step. We report a study on the MBE growth of Ge islands on Si(001) substrates, containing <110>-oriented square and long stripe type patterns defined by anisotropic wet etching of Si, in order to provide more understanding of how surface diffusion of Ge atoms would influence the formation of Ge islands on various types of surfaces. It has been found that there were preferential nucleation sites for Ge islands along the bottom edges of the Si ridges. The Ge islands at the edge positions were larger than those formed on the free surface and they could be regularly spaced. Due to the consumption of Ge at the bottom edges of ridge patterns, the density of Ge dots on the free surface varied between ˜ 3 × 108 and ˜ 1 × 109 cm-2 when changing the spatial separation between two adjacent Si ridges (2-100 µm). A Ge mean diffusion length of ˜ 7.5 µm has been determined for Ge growth at 700 °C. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Two types of Si:Er light emitting devices have been processed and characterized with an aim to efficiently use hot electrons for impact excitation. One is a p+-SiGe/i-Si/n-Si:Er:O/n+-Si tunneling diode with a design favoring electron tunneling from the SiGe valence band to the Si conduction band and subsequent acceleration. Another type of Si:Er light emitters is based on a heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) structure containing an Er-doped active layer in the collector. In these devices, one can introduce hot electrons from the HBT emitter in a controlled way with a collector bias voltage prior to the avalanche breakdown to improve the impact excitation efficiency. Intense electroluminescence was observed at 300 K at low current (0.1 A cm-2) and low bias (3 V). An impact cross-section value of 1 × 10-14 cm2 has been estimated, which is a 100-fold increase compared with the values reported from any other type of Er-doped LEDs. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V.

Si/SiGe/Si:Er:O-heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT)-type light emitting devices with Er3+ ions incorporated in the collector region have been fabricated using layered structures prepared by differential molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Intense light emission at 1.54 µm has been observed at room temperature by hot electron impact excitation at rather low injection current and applied voltage. Separate controls of the injection current and bias voltage make it possible to perform detailed electroluminescence (EL) studies that can not be done with conventional Si:Er light emitting diodes (LEDs). Saturation of the EL intensity occurs at very low current densities indicating a 100-fold increase of the effective excitation cross-section for Si/SiGe/Si:Er:O-HBTs compared with Si:Er-LEDs. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V.

Ultrathin Ge wetting layers, buried in Si(100), have been investigated by soft x-ray emission spectroscopy. With the assistance of ab initio density functional theory calculations the electronic structure of the layers could be established. In particular Si bulk states, splitted and resonating in the Ge layers, were identified.

Silicon-based light emitting diodes (LEDs) containing an Er/O-doped Si1-xGex active layer have been studied. The structures were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), with Er and O concentrations of 5 × 1019 and 1 × 1020 cm-3, respectively, using Er and silicon monoxide sources. The microstructure has been studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, and it is found that Er/O-doped Si0.92Ge0.08 layers of high crystalline quality, can be obtained. Electroluminescence (EL) measurements have been performed on reverse-biased Er/O doped diodes both from the surface and from the edge and the emission at 1.54 µm associated with the Er3+ ions has been studied at 300 K and lower temperatures. To evaluate the possibility to use a Si1-xGex layer for waveguiding in Si-based optoelectronics, studies of the refractive index n of strained Si1-xGex as a function of the Ge concentration have been done by spectroscopic ellipsometry in the range 0.3-1.7 µm. At 1.54 µm the refractive index increases monotonically with the Ge concentration up to n = 3.542 for a Ge concentration of 21.3%. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V.

In this paper, SiGe/Si multilayer heterostructures prepared by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) are described with the aim of manufacturing SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs). Based on the simulations made by Medici, device structures have been designed and grown. The quality of the MBE layered structures has been characterized by reflection high-energy electron diffraction, X-ray diffraction, secondary ion mass spectrometry and spreading resistance. Furthermore, SiGe-HBTs have been fabricated. Promising DC and RF results of processed HBT devices have been obtained. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V.

The temperature dependencies of the current-voltage characteristics and the electroluminescence (EL) intensity of molecular beam epitaxy grown Er/O-doped Si light emitting diodes at reverse bias have been studied. To minimize the scattering of electrons injected from the p-doped Si1-xGex electron emitters, an intrinsic Si layer was used in the depletion region. For many diodes, there is a temperature range where the EL intensity increases with temperature. Data are reported for a structure that shows increasing intensity up to 100°C. This is attributed to an increasing fraction of the pumping current being due to phonon-assisted tunneling, which gives a higher saturation intensity, compared to ionization-dominated breakdown at lower temperatures. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.

We demonstrate the utility of resonant x-ray scattering in probing the structure of doping layers at a heterostructure interface. The positions of germanium layers inserted at the interface of a silicon epitaxial film assert a strong influence of the phase of the scattered intensity along the crystal truncation rods. The phase of the scattering, and hence the internal structure of the layers, can be determined conveniently by analyzing its energy dependence in the vicinity of the Germanium absorption edge at 11.103 keV. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.