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The study of all-group-IV SiGeSn lasers has opened a new avenue to Si-based light sources. SiGeSn heterostructure and quantum well lasers have been successfully demonstrated in the past few years. It has been reported that, for multiple quantum well lasers, the optical confinement factor plays an important role in the net modal gain. In previous studies, adding a cap layer was proposed to increase the optical mode overlap with the active region and thereby improve the optical confinement factor of Fabry–Perot cavity lasers. In this work, SiGeSn/GeSn multiple quantum well (4-well) devices with various cap layer thicknesses, i.e., 0 (no cap), 190, 250, and 290 nm, are grown using a chemical vapor deposition reactor and characterized via optical pumping. While no-cap and thinner-cap devices only show spontaneous emission, the two thicker-cap devices exhibit lasing up to 77 K, with an emission peak at 2440 nm and a threshold of 214 kW/cm2 (250 nm cap device). The clear trend in device performance disclosed in this work provides guidance in device design for electrically injected SiGeSn quantum well lasers.

We report normal-incidence planar GeSn resonant-cavity-enhanced photodetectors (RCE-PDs) with a lateral p - i - n homojunction configuration on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform for short-wave infrared (SWIR) integrated photonics. The buried oxide of the SOI platform and the deposited S i O 2 layer serve as the bottom and top reflectors, respectively, creating a vertical cavity for enhancing the optical responsivity. The planar p - i - n diode structure is favorable for complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor-compatible, large-scale integration. With the bandgap reduction enabled by the 4.2% Sn incorporation into the GeSn active layer, the photodetection range extends to 1960 nm. The promising results demonstrate that the developed planar GeSn RCE-PDs are potential candidates for SWIR integrated photonics.

In this Letter, we demonstrate mid-infrared (MIR) lateral p − i − n GeSn waveguide photodetectors (WGPDs) on silicon, to the best of our knowledge for the first time, as a key enabler of MIR electronic–photonic integrated circuits (EPICs). Narrow-bandgap GeSn alloys were employed as the active material to enable efficient photodetection in the MIR region. A lateral p − i − n homojunction diode was designed and fabricated to significantly enhance the optical confinement factor of the guided modes and thus enhance the optical responsivity. Thus, a photodetection range of up to 1950 nm and a good responsivity of 0.292 A/W at 1800 nm were achieved. These results demonstrate the feasibility of planar GeSn WGPDs for monolithic MIR EPICs on silicon.

Temperature-dependent characteristics of GeSn/Ge multiple-quantum-well (MQW) photoconductors (PCs) on silicon substrate were investigated. The high quality GeSn/Ge MQW epitaxial structure was grown on a silicon substrate using low temperature molecular beam epitaxy techniques with atomically precise thickness control. Surface-illuminated GeSn/Ge MQW PCs were fabricated using complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor-compatible processing and characterized in a wide temperature range of 55–320 K. The photodetection range was extended to λ = 2235 n m at T = 320 K due to bandgap shrinkage with Sn alloying. Measured spectral responsivity was enhanced at reduced temperatures. These results provide better understanding of GeSn/Ge MQW structures for efficient short-wave infrared photodetection.

The 2 µm wavelength band has recently gained increased attention for potential applications in next-generation optical communication. However, it is still challenging to achieve effective photodetection in the 2 µm wavelength band using group-IV-based semiconductors. Here we present an investigation of GeSn resonant-cavity-enhanced photodetectors (RCEPDs) on silicon-on-insulator substrates for efficient photodetection in the 2 µm wavelength band. Narrow-bandgap GeSn alloys are used as the active layer to extend the photodetection range to cover the 2 µm wavelength band, and the optical responsivity is significantly enhanced by the resonant cavity effect as compared to a reference GeSn photodetector. Temperature-dependent experiments demonstrate that the GeSn RCEPDs can have a wider photodetection range and higher responsivity in the 2 µm wavelength band at higher temperatures because of the bandgap shrinkage. These results suggest that our GeSn RCEPDs are promising for complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor-compatible, efficient, uncooled optical receivers in the 2 µm wavelength band for a wide range of applications.

We demonstrate silicon-based p - n - p floating-base GeSn heterojunction phototransistors with enhanced optical responsivity for efficient short-wave infrared (SWIR) photodetection. The narrow-bandgap GeSn active layer sandwiched between the p - G e collector and n - G e base effectively extends the photodetection range in the SWIR range, and the internal gain amplifies the optical response by a factor of more than three at a low driving voltage of 0.4 V compared to that of a reference GeSn p - i - n photodetector (PD). We anticipate that our findings will be leveraged to realize complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor-compatible, sensitive, low driving voltage SWIR PDs in a wide range of applications.

We report GeSn p-i-n resonant-cavity-enhanced photodetectors (RCEPDs) grown on silicon-on-insulator substrates. A vertical cavity, composed of a buried oxide as the bottom reflector and a deposited SiO2 layer on the top surface as the top reflector, is created for the GeSn p-i-n structure to enhance the light-matter interaction. The responsivity experiments demonstrate that the photodetection range is extended to 1820 nm, completely covering all the telecommunication bands, because of the introduction of 2.5% Sn in the photon-absorbing layer. In addition, the responsivity is significantly enhanced by the resonant cavity effects, and a responsivity of 0.376 A/W in the telecommunication C-band is achieved that is significantly higher than that of conventional GeSn-based PDs. These results demonstrate the feasibility of CMOS-compatible, high-responsivity GeSn-based PDs for shortwave infrared applications.

We report the first observation of room-temperature quantum-confined photoluminescence (PL) from low-dimensional Ge(1-x)Sn(x)/Ge superlattices (SLs) up to a high Sn content of 6.96%. Both direct and indirect emissions associated with the interband transitions between minibands in the conduction bands and valence band were observed at room temperature. As the Sn content is increased, the energy difference between the lowest direct and indirect transitions is reduced, indicating an effective modification of the band structure desired for optoelectronics. The integrated PL intensity ratio of direct to indirect recombinations is significantly enhanced with increasing Sn content due to the reduced Γ-L energy separation and quantum confinement effect. Those results suggest that Sn-based low-dimensional structures are promising material for efficient Si-based lasers.

We report the optical characteristics of a quantum-dot laser with a metal-coated waveguide, which shows a large group index of 4.2 compared to 3.2 for an uncoated laser. Temperature-dependent measurements reveal a high characteristic temperature in the temperature range of 7 degrees C-25 degrees C. The optical gain, refractive index change, and linewidth enhancement factor are extracted from the measured Fabry-Perot amplified spontaneous emission spectra. We use the pulse measurements to eliminate the thermal effect and obtain a low linewidth enhancement factor of 0.35.