Crystallization Of Tensile Strained n-Type Ge By Continuous Wave Laser Annealing
Authors: Saputro Rahmat Hadi , Matsumura Ryo , Fukata Naoki 
Published: July 2022

In recent years, germanium (Ge) has attracted a lot of attention for the development of next generation devices due to its higher carrier mobilities compared with silicon (Si) and its compatibility for complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) applications. It is widely known that Ge is an indirect-band semiconductor like Si. However, by introducing tensile strain, the 136 meV difference between direct and indirect gaps can be reduced. Furthermore, in the case of 0.2-0.3% tensile strained Ge, n-type doping in the order of 1019 cm-3 were expected to be resulted in quasi direct-band light emission around 1550 nm wavelength. [1] The realization of this tensile strained n-Ge is promising for the integration of light sources on next generation Ge-based devices. Here, we focused on n-type Ge deposition using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) method and have succeeded in realizing highly Sb-doped epitaxial n-Ge films by modulating the deposition temperatures. [2] Moreover, we have recently reported the crystallization of amorphous Ge by high-speed continuous wave laser annealing (CWLA), which more importantly also resulted in the introduction of 0.55-0.62% tensile strain. [3] In this study, we applied the similar annealing technique for crystallization of Sb-doped Ge toward the realization of tensile strained n-type Ge films.

Sb-doped poly-crystalline Ge films with high Sb concentration (approximately 1019 cm-3) and thickness of about 100 nm were deposited on quartz substrate by molecular beam deposition at 450ºC substrate temperature. Then, 300 nm of SiO2 capping layer was deposited by sputtering in room temperature, such that the sample structure become that shown in Fig.1(a). The samples then annealed in the CWLA system equipped with Nd:YVO4 solid state laser with wavelength of 532 nm as the light source, which scan laser light at the speed (vscan) of 800 m/min. Also, the laser is focused to 20 μm diameter and shifted at 5 μm to scan the samples. Here, the laser power (Elaser) was changed from 300 to 1000 mW. After laser annealing, the capping layer were removed then the samples were characterized by micro-Raman spectroscopy.

The annealed sample surface shows brighter contrast compared to the as-deposited samples, as shown in Fig.1(b) and (c), which indicate the structural change of Ge layer. Raman spectra measured at surface of annealed Ge layers are summarized in Fig.2. Here, Ge-Ge peak around 300.2 cm-1 confirmed on the samples, indicating the crystallization of the Ge layers. This peak is not shifted in low Elaser but largely shifted in high Elaser at up to -2.4 cm-1 for undoped and -3.6 cm-1 for the Sb-doped Ge films. This difference could be explained by the liquid phase recrystallization after Ge layer melted in high Elaser (≥600 mW). During recrystallization process, tensile strain is accumulated upon cooling as the tensile strain amount (0.43-0.63%) is agree with the thermal expansion value of Ge between solidification temperature and room temperature (-0.60%). This mechanism is similar to the crystallization of amorphous Ge films on quartz substrates in our previous work. [3] These results show the successful crystallization of tensile strained n-Ge layer by the CWLA method. This finding will be useful for the growth of Ge-based films and a promising step toward the development of CMOS-integrated optoelectronics. Further investigation of the annealing conditions and its relations with the properties of Sb-doped Ge films will be discussed in the main presentation.

References

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Saputro, R.H., Matsumura, R. & Fukata, N. Cryst. Growth & Des. 21, 6523–6528 (2021).

Matsumura, R. & Fukata, N. ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 9, 063002 (2020).

Figure 1