FG Experimentalphysik und funktionale Materialien
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Over the past seven decades Si microelectronics have developed rapidly. The success of the growing microelectronic industry is also caused by the expansion of materials in addition to Si. Open challenges are the monolithic integration of group IV devices on Si photonics as well as overcoming the size mismatch between electronic parts in the nm range and photonic parts in the µm scale. In this thesis the future application of GeSn NIs on Si as a photodetector is evaluated. The key element required for high performance optoelectronic devices is the formation of high-quality GeSn nano-islands (NIs), i.e. overcoming growth challenges such as introduction of defects due to lattice and thermal mismatch between GeSn and Si substrate as well as suppression of Sn precipitation caused by the limited solid solubility of Sn in Ge. To achieve high-quality nanostructures, the selective growth of GeSn NIs on Si(001) seeds via molecular beam epitaxy is investigated, exploiting the advantages of nanoheteroepitaxy (NHE), i.e. growth on nano-patterned substrates. The best compromise between selective growth of GeSn on Si nano-pillars at significant higher growth temperature than the eutectic temperature of GeSn and the incorporation of Sn into the Ge lattice was achieved at 600°C. X-ray diffraction studies confirmed the substitutional incorporation of 1.4at.% Sn into the NIs avoiding considerable Si interdiffusion from the substrate. Transmission electron microscopy images have shown that dislocations and stacking faults caused by plastic relaxation of the GeSn NIs are located near the NIs/substrate interface and thus, dislocation-free GeSn NIs can be formed, due to gliding out of the threading arms triggered by the NHE approach.
The high crystal quality of the GeSn NIs, enables the investigation of the bandgap by μ-photoluminescence (PL) analyses, demonstrating the shrinkage of the direct bandgap with increasing Sn content in the quasi-direct semiconductor.
All NIs however feature a β-Sn droplet on their nano-facets. To suppress the out-diffusion of Sn and hence increase the Sn concentration of the GeSn alloy, the GeSn NIs were overgrown with a thin Ge cap layer. The Ge cap successfully hinders the formation of Sn segregates on top of the NIs. Capping at 600 °C and 650°C results in an enrichment of Sn at the surface, forming a GeSn crust with 8±0.5at.% Sn. This wetting layer both enhances the optoelectronic properties of the NI core and exhibits a relatively strong PL emission attributed to direct radiative recombination.
Finally, a first demonstration of a GeSn NIs based photodetector was successful, due to the utilization of Al nano-antennas exhibiting an enhanced light coupling into the GeSn NIs at a wavelength of 700nm. The responsible mechanisms is the local plasmonic field enhancement of the incoming light. The manipulation of the resonance wavelength into the telecommunication regime, i.e. >1550nm, have to be investigated in future studies.
Semiconductor nanowires, also called nanorods or nanowhiskers, are of particular interest for various applications in nanotechnology. Especially, germanium as a CMOS compatible material with its good electronic properties has gained renewed interest in recent years due to the availability of modern gate dielectrics. The present work deals with the vapor-liquid-solid growth of germanium nanowires and their characterization. The Growth has been carried out by means of molecular beam epitaxy using differently oriented germanium and silicon substrates whereas gold has been used to create metal catalyst droplets with radii of typically 100 nm and below. All stages from the substrate preparation to the final growth have been investigated in the frame of this work to find significant control parameters that influence the growth result. The droplet formation by means of gold evaporation onto the heated substrates has been investigated extensively on different substrates and for different surface preparations to identify parameters that are crucial for the resulting size distribution. Thereby sticking effects of the droplet circumference turned out to influence the radius distribution significantly. Germanium nanowires have been observed to grow preferentially along the <011> crystallographic directions on all utilized substrate orientations leading to defined possible inclinations of the wires with respect to the substrate normal. In contrast to the faceting known from silicon wires, the sidewalls mainly exhibit four flat {111} facets whereas the tip is roof shaped consisting of another two {111} facets. Different models which describe the inclined growth are presented and discussed. Furthermore, the material transport during the growth has been investigated. The nanowire length was found to be up to eight times larger than the nominal layer thickness according to the total amount of deposited germanium which is explained by surface diffusion towards the nanowires. The diffusion dominated growth regime was confirmed by length-radius-plot showing a decrease of the nanowire length at increasing radii. A temperature dependent diffusion model has been utilized to describe the observed nanowire length as a function of the substrate temperature. Beside conventional nanowires, so-called in-plane nanowires which grow along the substrate surface have been studied. Like their vertically growing counterparts, they also tend to grow along <011> in-plane directions which is particularly distinct on Ge(011) substrates. However, the fraction of nanowires which are aligned along <011> is influenced by substrate imperfections which was intentionally affected by means of wet-chemical substrate preparation. In addition to the nanowire growth, techniques for selective catalyst removal as well as for nanowire embedding in an insulating, transparent matrix have been established which can be important prerequisites for further nanowire processing in terms of electric or optoelectronic applications.