Highly effective strain-induced band-engineering of (111) oriented, direct-gap GeSn crystallized on amorphous SiO2 layers

Abstract

We demonstrate highly effective strain-induced band-engineering of (111) oriented direct-gap Ge1−xSnx thin films (0.074 < x < 0.085) crystallized on amorphous SiO2 towards 3D photonic integration. Due to a much smaller Poisson's ratio for (111) vs. (100) orientation, 0.44% thermally induced biaxial tensile strain reduces the direct-gap by 0.125 eV towards enhanced direct-gap semiconductor properties, twice as effective as the tensile strain in Ge(100) films. Correspondingly, the optical response is extended to λ = 2.8 μm. A dilatational deformation potential of a = −12.8 ± 0.8 eV is derived. These GeSn films also demonstrate high thermal stability, offering both excellent direct-gap optoelectronic properties and fabrication/operation robustness for integrated photonics.