Composition and strain analysis of Si1-xGex core fiber with Raman spectroscopy

Abstract

The fabrication and characterization of Si1-xGex core fiber have attracted much attention because of its great application potential in new optoelectronic devices. In this work, by assembling two semi-cylindrical monocrystalline Si and Ge rods into a silica tube, we present a fabrication method to draw Si1-xGex core silica clad fiber with graphite furnace. Raman spectra analysis reveals that in all regions of the core formed the Si1-xGex alloy. The optical microscopic photograph shows that in the core of a diameter of 36 μm distributed the bright and dark regions, where it was further proved by Raman spectroscopy that the bright regions are Ge-rich areas and the dark regions are rich in silicon. By recording the Raman spectra of consecutive regions, it was found that with the increase of Ge content (x<0.5) the peak intensity of Si-Ge mode obviously increases, similar to the intensity of Ge-Ge mode, while the peak intensity of Si-Si mode decreases. Then we made a quantitative analysis of the components and strain by mapping the Raman spectra of the fiber core. The experimental results show that the Ge content mainly distributes between 0.1 and 0.8, concentrating between 0.2 and 0.3, and the strain distribution on the surface is obtained at the same time.