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Notes: The capture kinetics and trapping properties of a dislocation related electron trap detected in strain-relaxed, compositionally graded Ge0.3Si0.7/Si grown by rapid thermal chemical-vapor deposition are investigated by deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS). The volume DLTS trap concentration scales linearly with the areal threading dislocation density, as determined by electron-beam-induced current measurements on samples with different compositional grading rates, indicating that the detected trap is most likely associated with dislocation core states in these graded structures. The dislocation related trap exhibits both the logarithmic dependence of DLTS peak height on fill pulse time tp, and broadened DLTS peaks which typically characterize carrier trapping at dislocations. These effects are quantified and analyzed to gain insight into the trapping properties of dislocations in GeSi/Si heterostructures and to investigate the effects of dislocation related carrier trapping on DLTS measurements. It is demonstrated that the peak broadening, as characterized by the dimensionless broadening parameter FWHM/Tp, where FWHM and Tp are the full width at half-maximum of the DLTS peak and the DLTS peak temperature, respectively, monotonically decreases with decreasing fill pulse duration, and approaches point-defectlike behavior for tp〈100 μs.The observed broadening is asymmetric about Tp, and occurs predominantly on the low-temperature side of the DLTS peak. This asymmetric broadening is shown to shift the "apparent'' trap activation energy, as determined by Arrhenius analysis, from EC−0.6 eV to EC−0.9 eV (relative to the bulk conduction-band edge) as tp decreases from 5 ms to 50 μs. These observations are explained by the presence of a dislocation related distribution of energy levels within the GeSi band gap and the consequent fill-pulse-dependent local band bending. The lowest-energy states within this distribution are preferentially filled with electrons for short fill pulse times. The Arrhenius-determined "apparent'' activation energy is hence interpreted as being a measure of the average energy of the filled defect states, weighted by the density of states distribution in this energy band and by the related fill-pulse-dependent local band bending. It is further demonstrated that the minority-carrier capture cross section may be enhanced by the presence of an attractive coulombic barrier for minority carriers at the dislocations, and we use the logarithmic capture equations to derive a value of 4×10−12 cm2 for this "effective'' capture cross section. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: We study the electrical activity of threading dislocation defects in relaxed GeSi films with a novel, high-resolution optical technique. A near-field scanning optical microscope is used to measure spatially resolved photoresponse while simultaneously imaging the surface topography. We have convincingly established that shallow topographic depressions in these films are electrically active threading dislocations. The apparent sizes of the dislocations in the photovoltage images are in agreement with estimates based on the junction geometry and the near-field optical excitation spot size. We can clearly observe photoresponse changes at ≤100 nm lateral scale, a tenfold improvement from far-field optical techniques. This higher resolution is due to reduction of the excitation volume and of the carrier lifetime near defects. © 1996 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Strain-relaxed Ge0.3Si0.7/Si, grown by rapid thermal chemical-vapor deposition, has been investigated with deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) and bias-dependent electron-beam-induced current (EBIC). A single electron trap and several hole traps have been detected in these samples. The apparent electron capture cross section is found to be ∼2×10−13 cm2, which is several orders of magnitude larger than the apparent hole capture cross sections (∼10−17 cm2), and is responsible for the detection of the minority-carrier electron trap even under reverse-bias majority-carrier capture conditions. All observed traps which were investigated as a function of filling pulse time exhibit logarithmic capture kinetics, as expected for extended defects, and the bias-dependent DLTS peak height and EBIC relative defect contrast are consistent with the spatially varying dislocation density. Moreover, the trap concentration, as determined by DLTS, is correlated to the dislocation density, as determined by EBIC measurements. Based on a comparison of Arrhenius plots, the observed logarithmic capture kinetics, the correlation of trap density to dislocation density, and the observed bias dependence, the electron trap appears to be related to dislocation core states, while two of the hole traps appear to be related to either dislocation core states or Cottrell atmospheres. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: A detailed study of the electrical and defect properties of ion-implanted erbium in silicon shows that erbium doping introduces donor states. The concentration of erbium related donors as a function of implant dose saturates at 4×1016 cm−3 at a peak implanted Er-ion concentration of (4–7)×1017 cm−3. The defect levels related to erbium in silicon are characterized by deep level transient spectroscopy and identified as E(0.09), E(0.06), E(0.14), E(0.18), E(0.27), E(0.31), E(0.32), and E(0.48). The dependence of the photoluminescence on annealing temperature for float zone and for Czochralski-grown silicon show that oxygen and lattice defects can enhance the luminescence at 1.54 μm from the erbium. Temperature-dependent capacitance-voltage profiling shows donor emission steps when the Fermi level crosses EC − ET = 0.06 eV and EC − ET = 0.16 eV.

Notes: The effect of impurity coimplantation in MeV erbium-implanted silicon is studied. A significant increase in the intensity of the 1.54-μm Er3+ emission was observed for different coimplants. This study shows that the Er3+ emission is observed if erbium can form an impurity complex in silicon. The influence of these impurities on the Er3+ photoluminescence spectrum is demonstrated. Furthermore we show the first room-temperature photoluminescence spectrum of erbium in crystalline silicon.

Notes: Best-case evaluations are made for potential optoelectronic applications of erbium-doped silicon (EDS). The objective is to find the upper limit of performance when EDS is used as light-emitting diodes, amplifiers/modulators, and lasers. Every effort is made to use intrinsic parameters whose values are determined by physics rather than by factors such as material quality and processing quality. Consequently, the result is expected to be overly optimistic, and should be regarded as a feasibility study only. It is shown that Er-doped Si is not suitable for light-emitting-diode applications because of the low emitted power (microwatts). The intensity amplifiers/modulators made of Er-doped Si can only be expected to provide a very modest gain (〈6 cm−1). For laser applications, the threshold population inversion can be achieved in principle (assuming proper design and processing of the laser structure); however, a very efficient pumping mechanism is necessary for the laser to provide reasonable power output (of the order of mW/facet). Finally, a view on the direction of future research in this field is presented. Since the rare-earth ion luminescence is known to be fairly independent of the host materials, the results obtained from this study are expected to be applicable to most of the other rare-earth-doped semiconductors.

Notes: A study is presented of the relation between microstructure and 1.54 μm photoluminescence (PL) in high-energy ion-implantated Er in Si as a function of implant dose, energy, and temperature and subsequent anneal. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of material implanted at 500 keV and (approximately-greater-than)100 °C and annealed at 900 °C to activate the Er PL suggests the solubility of Er in Si to be ≈1.3±0.4× 1018 cm−3 at 900 °C. Precipitates take the form of platelets (probably ErSi2) ≈100–300 A(ring) in diameter and ≈10 A(ring) thick. The 1.54 μm PL saturates at ≈5× 1017 cm−3, before the apparent solubility limit. Layers in which the Si is fully amorphized and subsequently regrown by solid phase epitaxy during an anneal show increased Er incorporation in the crystalline Si but segregation at the amorphous-crystalline interface. In buried amorphous layers regrown from top and bottom, segregation leads to a line of high Er concentration near the center of the layer: Regrowth from a single interface leads to a segregation pileup of Er at the interface until the precipitation threshhold is reached.

Notes: Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy and imaging, and preferential defect etching and optical microscopy have been used to characterize compositionally graded Si1−xGex alloy layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Si1−xGex capping layers grown on the compositionally graded layers have low threading dislocation densities, and both PL and low-beam energy CL spectra show bound exciton luminescence features identical with those observed in bulk Si1−xGex alloys and relatively weak dislocation related D-band features. Increasing the beam energy increases the relative strength of the D bands in the CL spectra, indicating that they are associated with the misfit dislocations in the compositionally graded layer. This has been confirmed by combined chemical etching and PL spectroscopy measurements. The misfit dislocations can be observed by monochromatic CL imaging at a high-beam energy using a narrow band pass filter centerd on the D4 band.

Notes: A procedure for the fabrication of two-dimensional carrier (electron and hole) gases in modulation doped GeSi/Si heterostructures is presented. The best 4.2 K mobilities measured for the two-dimensional electron and hole gases are 180 000 cm2/V s and 18 000 cm2/V s, respectively. Recently, two-dimensional hole gases with mobilities as high as 55 000 cm2/V s have been obtained. The carrier gases are fabricated on top of relaxed, compositionally graded GexSi1−x buffer layers with low threading dislocation densities (≈106 cm−2). Experimental evidence indicates that the function of the graded buffer is to promote dislocation propagation while suppressing nucleation. A comparative analysis is carried out for two dimensional electron gases in GeSi/Si/GeSi and in AlGaAs/GaAs structures. Although molecular beam epitaxy is used to grow the samples, the principle discussed here is independent of growth technique.

Notes: The luminescence properties of 3 μm thick, strongly emitting, and highly porous silicon films were studied using a combination of photoluminescence, transmission electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Transmission electron micrographs indicate that these samples have structures of predominantly 6–7 nm size clusters (instead of the postulated columns). In the as-prepared films, there is a significant concentration of Si—H bonds which is gradually replaced by Si—O bonds during prolonged aging in air. Upon optical excitation these films exhibit strong visible emission peaking at ≈690 nm. The excitation edge is shown to be emission wavelength dependent, revealing the inhomogeneous nature of both the initially photoexcited and luminescing species. The photoluminescence decay profiles observed are highly nonexponential and decrease with increasing emission energy. The 1/e times observed typically range from 1 to 50 μs. The correlation of the spectral and structural information suggests that the source of the large blue shift of the visible emission compared to the bulk Si band gap energy is likely to be due to quantum confinement in the nanometer size Si clusters. The electron-hole recombination process, on the other hand, remains unclear.