Tensile strain engineering of germanium micro-disks on free-standing SiO2 beams

Abstract

Tensile strain is required to enhance light-emitting direct-gap recombinations in germanium (Ge), which is a promising group IV material for realizing a monolithic light source on Si. Ge micro-disks on free-standing SiO2 beams were fabricated using Ge-on-Insulator wafers for applying tensile strain to Ge in a structure compatible with an optical confinement. We have studied the nature of the strain by Raman spectroscopy in comparison with finite-element computer simulations. We show the impacts of the beam design on the corresponding strain value, orientation, and uniformity, which can be exploited for Ge light emission applications. It was found that the tensile strain values are larger if the length of the beam is smaller. We confirmed that both uniaxial and biaxial strain can be applied to Ge disks, and maximum strain values of 1.1 and 0.6% have been achieved, as confirmed by Raman spectroscopy. From the photoluminescence spectra of Ge micro-disks, we have also found a larger energysplitting between the light-hole and the heavy-hole bands in shorter beams, indicating the impact of tensile strain.