SiGeSn growth studies using reduced pressure chemical vapor deposition towards optoelectronic applications

Abstract In this contribution, we propose a laser concept based on a double heterostructure consisting of tensile strained Ge as the active medium and SiGeSn ternaries as cladding layers. Electronic band-structure calculations were used to determine the Si and Sn concentrations yielding a type I heterostructure with appropriate band-offsets (50 meV) between strained Ge and SiGeSn. Reduced pressure chemical vapor deposition system was employed to study the laser structure growth. Detailed analyses regarding layer composition, crystal quality, surface morphology and elastic strain are presented. A strong temperature dependence of the Si and Sn incorporation has been obtained, ranging from 4 to 19 at.% Si and from 4 to 12 at.% Sn (growth temperatures between 350 °C and 475 °C). The high single crystalline quality and low surface roughness of 0.5–0.75 nm demonstrate that our layers are suitable for heterostructure laser fabrication.