Ultralow dark current Ge/Si(100) photodiodes with low thermal budget

Vertical incidence photodiodes were fabricated from Ge grown epitaxially on Si(100) by low-energy plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Consideration of the energy band profiles of n-i-p and p-i-n heterostructures, and optimization of growth processes and thermal budget, allowed the performance of Ge photodectors integrated on Si(100) substrates to be optimized. Record low dark current density of Js=4.1×10−5 A/cm2 and external quantum efficiency at 1550 nm of η=32% were measured.

[1]  E. Yablonovitch,et al.  Fabrication and characterization of low temperature (<450 ◦ C) grown p-Ge/n-Si photodetectors for silicon based photonics , 2004 .

[2]  Thomas A. Langdo,et al.  Controlling threading dislocation densities in Ge on Si using graded SiGe layers and chemical-mechanical polishing , 1998 .

[3]  Thomas A. Langdo,et al.  High-quality germanium photodiodes integrated on silicon substrates using optimized relaxed graded buffers , 1998 .

[4]  Yasuhiko Ishikawa,et al.  Strain-induced enhancement of near-infrared absorption in Ge epitaxial layers grown on Si substrate , 2005 .

[5]  S. Pizzini,et al.  Crystallinity and microstructure in Si films grown by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition: A simple atomic-scale model validated by experiments , 2009 .

[6]  Lionel C. Kimerling,et al.  Correlation between leakage current density and threading dislocation density in SiGe p-i-n diodes grown on relaxed graded buffer layers , 2001 .

[7]  H. Känel,et al.  Characterization of Ge-on-Si virtual substrates and single junction GaAs solar cells , 2006 .

[8]  Ge films grown on Si substrates by molecular-beam epitaxy below 450 °C , 2004 .

[9]  G. Roelkens,et al.  Compact InAlAs–InGaAs Metal– Semiconductor– Metal Photodetectors Integrated on Silicon-on-Insulator Waveguides , 2007, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[10]  Gianlorenzo Masini,et al.  Near-infrared camera in polycrystalline germanium integrated on complementary-metal-oxide semiconductor electronics , 2007 .

[11]  Y. Chetrit,et al.  Performance of Ge-on-Si p-i-n Photodetectors for Standard Receiver Modules , 2006, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[12]  Ji-Yong Park,et al.  Hydrogen-surfactant mediated growth of Ge on Si(001) , 1998 .

[13]  E. Cassan,et al.  UHV-CVD growth and annealing of thin fully relaxed Ge films on (0 0 1)Si. , 2005 .

[14]  G. Assanto,et al.  Low Dark-Current Germanium-on-Silicon Near-Infrared Detectors , 2007, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[15]  Alex Dommann,et al.  A plasma process for ultrafast deposition of SiGe graded buffer layers , 2000 .

[16]  S. Koester,et al.  Germanium-on-SOI Infrared Detectors for Integrated Photonic Applications , 2006, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics.

[17]  Kazumi Wada,et al.  High efficiency photodetectors based on high quality epitaxial germanium grown on silicon substrates , 2001 .

[18]  Gianlorenzo Masini,et al.  Ge on Si p-i-n photodiodes operating at 10Gbit∕s , 2006 .

[19]  L. Lathauwer,et al.  Detection of fast neuronal signals in the motor cortex from functional near infrared spectroscopy measurements using independent component analysis , 2006, Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing.

[20]  Shawn G. Thomas,et al.  Structural characterization of thick, high-quality epitaxial Ge on Si substrates grown by low-energy plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition , 2003 .

[21]  Kazumi Wada,et al.  High-quality Ge epilayers on Si with low threading-dislocation densities , 1999 .

[22]  Alessandro Virtuani,et al.  Electron-beam-induced current imaging for the characterisation of structural defects in Si1- xGex films grown by LE-PECVD , 2006 .

[23]  George Stewart,et al.  Remote gas analysis using fibre optic links and near infrared absorption , 2004, SPIE Photonics Europe.

[24]  Gaetano Assanto,et al.  High-performance p-i-n Ge on Si photodetectors for the near infrared: from model to demonstration , 2001 .

[25]  G. Capellini,et al.  Ge/Si(100) heterostructures: a photoemission and low-energy yield spectroscopy investigation , 1996 .

[26]  Bahram Jalali,et al.  Can silicon change photonics? , 2008 .