Growth of Thin Epitaxial CaxSr1-xF2/SrF2 Layers with Low Leakage Current on Ge Substrates

Abstract

Resonant tunneling structures composed of epitaxial fluoride layers with a large conduction band discontinuity grown on Si or Ge substrates are attractive for the monolithic integration of quantum devices with CMOS. We found that the leakage current of Ca0.42Sr0.58F2 (lattice-matched with Ge) layers on Ge substrates was unusually large, which has not been observed on Si substrates. From an investigation of the dependence of the alloy composition of the fluoride layers on the leakage, the introduction of a SrF2 buffer layer, i.e., a Ca0.42Sr0.58F2/SrF2/Ge structure, was proposed as a technique for the growth of an electron-tunneling barrier layer on Ge with low leakage current.