Optical properties of Stranski–Krastanov grown three-dimensional Si/Si 1−xGe x nanostructures

Abstract

Detailed Raman and photoluminescence (PL) measurements are reported for Si/Si 1− x Ge x nanostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy under near Stranski–Krastanov (S–K) growth mode conditions. In samples with x ranging from 0.096 to 0.53, we observe that an increase in the Raman signal related to Ge–Ge vibrations correlates with (i) a red shift in the PL peak position, (ii) an increase in the activation energy of PL thermal quenching, and (iii) an increase in the PL quantum efficiency. The results indicate that for x>0.5 Ge atoms form nanometer size clusters with a nearly pure Ge core surrounded by a SiGe shell. Time-resolved PL measurements reveal a stretched-exponential long-lived PL component that is associated with compositional and dimensional fluctuations in the SiGe dots.