Browsing by Author "Bhattacharya, Shuvodip"

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    Atomic Layer Deposited Tantalum Silicate on Crystallographically-Oriented Epitaxial Germanium: Interface Chemistry and Band Alignment
    Clavel, Michael B.; Bhattacharya, Shuvodip; Hudait, Mantu K. (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2022-05-13)
    The interface chemistry and energy band alignment properties of atomic layer deposited (ALD) tantalum silicate (TaSiOx) dielectrics on crystallographically-oriented, epitaxial (001)Ge, (110)Ge, and (111)Ge thin-films, grown on GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy, were investigated. The ALD process, consisting of a 6 : 1 Ta : Si precursor super-cycle, was analyzed via sputter depth-dependent elemental analysis utilizing X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The XPS investigations revealed uniform Si incorporation throughout the TaSiOx dielectric, and a measurable amount of cross-diffusion between Ge and Ta atomic species in the vicinity of the oxide/semiconductor heterointerface. The formation of a thin SiO2 interfacial oxide, through the intentional pre-pulsing of the Si precursor prior to the Si : Ta super-cycle process, was observed via cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy analysis. Moreover, the bandgap of Ta-rich Ta0.8Si0.2Ox dielectrics, analyzed using the photoelectron energy loss technique centered on the O 1s binding energy spectra, was determined to be in the range of 4.62 eV-4.66 eV (±0.06 eV). Similarly, the XPS-derived valence band and conduction band offsets (ΔEV and ΔEC, respectively) were found to be ΔEV > 3.0 ± 0.1 eV and ΔEC > 0.6 ± 0.1 eV for the (001)Ge, (110)Ge, and (111)Ge orientations, promoting the increased carrier confinement necessary for reducing operational and off-state leakage current in metal-oxide-semiconductor devices. Thus, the empirical TaSiOx/Ge interfacial energy band offsets, coupled with the uniform dielectric deposition observed herein, provides key guidance for the integration of TaSiOx dielectrics with Ge-based field-effect transistors targeting ultra-low power logic applications.
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    Design, Theoretical, and Experimental Investigation of Tensile-Strained Germanium Quantum-Well Laser Structure
    Hudait, Mantu K.; Murphy-Armando, Felipe; Saladukha, Dzianis; Clavel, Michael B.; Goley, Patrick S.; Maurya, Deepam; Bhattacharya, Shuvodip; Ochalski, Tomasz J. (American Chemical Society, 2021-10-14)
    Strain and band gap engineered epitaxial germanium (ϵ-Ge) quantum-well (QW) laser structures were investigated on GaAs substrates theoretically and experimentally for the first time. In this design, we exploit the ability of an InGaAs layer to simultaneously provide tensile strain in Ge (0.7-1.96%) and sufficient optical and carrier confinement. The direct band-to-band gain, threshold current density (Jth), and loss mechanisms that dominate in the ϵ-Ge QW laser structure were calculated using first-principles-based 30-band k·p electronic structure theory, at injected carrier concentrations from 3 × 1018 to 9 × 1019 cm-3. The higher strain in the ϵ-Ge QW increases the gain at higher wavelengths; however, a decreasing thickness is required by higher strain due to critical layer thickness for avoiding strain relaxation. In addition, we predict that a Jth of 300 A/cm2 can be reduced to <10 A/cm2 by increasing strain from 0.2% to 1.96% in ϵ-Ge lasing media. The measured room-temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy demonstrated direct band gap optical emission, from the conduction band at the Γ-valley to heavy-hole (0.6609 eV) from 1.6% tensile-strained Ge/In0.24Ga0.76As heterostructure grown by molecular beam epitaxy, is in agreement with the value calculated using 30-band k·p theory. The detailed plan-view transmission electron microscopic (TEM) analysis of 0.7% and 1.2% tensile-strained ϵ-Ge/InGaAs structures exhibited well-controlled dislocations within each ϵ-Ge layer. The measured dislocation density is below 4 × 106 cm-2 for the 1.2% ϵ-Ge layer, which is an upper bound, suggesting the superior ϵ-Ge material quality. Structural analysis of the experimentally realistic 1.95% biaxially strained In0.28Ga0.72As/13 nm ϵ-Ge/In0.28Ga0.72As QW structure demonstrated a strained Ge/In0.28Ga0.72As heterointerface with minimal relaxation using X-ray and cross-sectional TEM analysis. Therefore, our monolithic integration of a strained Ge QW laser structure on GaAs and ultimately the transfer of the process to the Si substrate via an InGa(Al)As/III-V buffer architecture would provide a significant step toward photonic technology based on strained Ge on a Si platform.
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    High carrier lifetimes in epitaxial germanium-tin/Al(In)As heterostructures with variable tin composition
    Hudait, Mantu K.; Johnston, Steven W.; Clavel, Michael B.; Bhattacharya, Shuvodip; Karthikeyan, Sengunthar; Joshi, Rutwik (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2022-06-23)
    Group IV-based germanium-tin (Ge1−ySny) compositional materials have recently shown great promise for infrared detection, light emission and ultra-low power transistors. High carrier lifetimes are desirable for enhancing the detection limit and efficiency of photodetectors, low threshold current density in lasers, and low tunneling barrier height by lowering defects and dislocations at the heterointerface of a source and a channel. Here, carrier lifetimes in epitaxial germanium (Ge) and variable tin (Sn) compositional Ge1−ySny materials were experimentally determined on GaAs substrates using the contactless microwave photoconductive decay (μ-PCD) technique at an excitation wavelength of 1500 nm. Sharp (2 × 2) reflection high energy electron diffraction patterns and low surface roughness were observed from the surface of the Ge0.97Sn0.03 epilayer. X-ray rocking curves from Ge0.97Sn0.03 and Ge0.94Sn0.06 layers demonstrated the pseudomorphic and lattice-matched growth on AlAs and In0.12Al0.88As buffers, respectively, further substantiated by reciprocal space maps and abrupt heterointerfaces evident from the presence of Pendellösung oscillations. High effective carrier lifetimes of 150 ns to 450 ns were measured for Ge1−ySny epilayers as a function of Sn composition, surface roughness, growth temperature, and layer thickness. The observed increase in the carrier lifetime with an increasing Ge layer thickness and a reducing surface roughness, by incorporating Sn, were explained. The enhancement of the carrier lifetime with an increasing Sn concentration was achieved by controlling the defects with lattice-matched Ge0.94Sn0.06/In0.12Al0.88As heterointerfaces or the pseudomorphic growth of Ge0.94Sn0.06 on GaAs. Therefore, our monolithic integration of variable Sn alloy compositional Ge1−ySny materials with high carrier lifetimes opens avenues to realize electronic and optoelectronic devices.
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    Temperature and Doping-Dependent Interplay between Direct and Indirect Optical Response in Buffer-Mediated Epitaxial Germanium
    Hudait, Mantu K.; Meeker, Michael; Liu, Jheng-Sin; Clavel, Michael; Bhattacharya, Shuvodip; Khodaparast, Giti (Elsevier, 2022-09-01)
    The structural and optical properties of buffer mediated epitaxial germanium (Ge) layer were investigated and compared with bulk n-type and p-type Ge substrates. An interconnected dual-chamber molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) system was used to grow a 280 nm thin Ge epilayer on (100)GaAs substrate with an intermediate AlAs buffer layer. The lattice-matched, abrupt Ge/AlAs heterointerface was analyzed using cross-sectional transmission electron microscopic analysis, and no elemental interdiffusion was detected via secondary ion mass spectrometry. A strong direct gap transition, compared to the indirect gap transition, and a series of phonon-assisted transitions was observed by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. In addition, the intensity of the direct gap recombination decreases with decreasing PL measurement temperatures, which was ascribed to the reduced density of Γ-valley electrons available for recombination at lower temperature. Furthermore, the intensity ratio between the direct and indirect optical transition drastically decreases with decreasing temperature in both n-type epitaxial and p-type bulk Ge. An empirical relation in both direct and indirect peak position with temperature was established. The observed strong luminescence in 280 nm thick epitaxial Ge at room temperature is vital for Ge-based photonic devices. In addition, the quality of the epitaxial Ge layer grown via MBE is on par with bulk Ge substrates.