Waveguide-integrated microdisk light-emitting diode and photodetector based on Ge quantum dots.

Microdisk integrated with a bus waveguide is fabricated on silicon-on-insulator substrate containing Ge self-assembled quantum dots as active medium. The device is demonstrated to be operated as both light-emitting diode and photodetector. At forward bias, carriers are injected into the microdisk and light emission at 1.45-1.6 µm is extracted through the waveguide via microdisk-waveguide coupling. Sharp resonant peaks with Q-factor as high as 1350 are obtained in the electroluminescence spectra, corresponding to whispering gallery modes of the microdisk. At reverse bias, the device functions as a resonant cavity enhanced photodetector with wavelength-selective photo-response. The photo-current at resonant wavelength of 1533.65 nm is 50 times larger than that at non-resonant wavelength. The dark current density of the photodetector is as low as 0.29 mA/cm2 up to -10 V bias and the peak responsivity is 5.645 mA/W.

Cubic Rashba spin-orbit interaction of a two-dimensional hole gas in a strained-Ge/SiGe quantum well.

The spin-orbit interaction (SOI) of a two-dimensional hole gas in the inversion symmetric semiconductor Ge is studied in a strained-Ge/SiGe quantum well structure. We observe weak antilocalization (WAL) in the magnetoconductivity measurement, revealing that the WAL feature can be fully described by the k-cubic Rashba SOI theory. Furthermore, we demonstrate electric field control of the Rashba SOI. Our findings reveal that the heavy hole (HH) in strained Ge is a purely cubic Rashba system, which is consistent with the spin angular momentum m(j) = ± 3/2 nature of the HH wave function.

Ratchet effect study in Si/SiGe heterostructures in the presence of asymmetrical antidots for different polarizations of microwaves.

In this work, we studied the photovoltage response of an antidot lattice to microwave radiation for different antidot parameters. The study was carried out in a Si/SiGe heterostructure by illuminating the antidot lattice with linearly polarized microwaves and recording the polarity of induced photovoltage for different angles of incidence. Our study revealed that with increased antidot density and etching depth, the polarity of induced photovoltage changed when the angle of incidence was rotated 90 degrees. In samples with large antidot density and/or a deeply etched antidot lattice, scattering was dominated by electron interaction with the asymmetrical potential created by semicircular antidots. The strong electron-electron interaction prevailed in other cases. Our study provides insight into the mechanism of interaction between microwaves and electrons in an antidot lattice, which is the key for developing an innovative ratchet-based device. Moreover, we present an original and fundamental example of antidot lattice etching through the use of a two-dimensional electron gas. This system deals with a hole lattice instead of an electron depletion in the antidot lattice region.

Silicon-based current-injected light emitting diodes with Ge self-assembled quantum dots embedded in photonic crystal nanocavities.

Room temperature light emission from Ge self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) embedded in L3-type photonic crystal (PhC) nanocavity is successfully demonstrated under current injection through a lateral PIN diode structure. The Ge QDs are grown on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer by solid-source molecular beam epitaxy (SS-MBE), and the PIN diode is fabricated by selective ion implantation around the PhC cavity. Under an injected current larger than 0.5 mA, strong resonant electroluminescence (EL) around 1.3-1.5 µm wavelength corresponding to the PhC cavity modes is observed. A sharp peak with a quality factor up to 260 is obtained in the EL spectrum. These results show a possible way to realize practical silicon-based light emitting devices.

Metallic behavior of cyclotron relaxation time in two-dimensional systems.

Cyclotron resonance of two-dimensional electrons is studied at low temperatures down to 0.4 K for a high-mobility Si/SiGe quantum well which exhibits a metallic temperature dependence of dc resistivity ρ. The relaxation time τ(CR) shows a negative temperature dependence, which is similar to that of the transport scattering time τ(t) obtained from ρ. The ratio τ(CR)/τ(t) at 0.4 K increases as the electron density N(s) decreases, and exceeds unity when N(s) approaches the critical density for the metal-insulator transition.

Room-temperature electroluminescence from Si microdisks with Ge quantum dots.

A current-injected silicon-based light-emitting device was fabricated on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) by embedding Ge self-assembled quantum dots into a silicon microdisk resonator with p-i-n junction for current-injection. Room-temperature resonant electroluminescence (EL) from Ge self-assembled quantum dots in the microdisk was successfully observed under current injection, and observed EL peaks corresponding to the whispering gallery modes (WGMs) supported by the microdisk resonator were well identified by means of numerical simulations.

Electronic transport properties of the Ising quantum Hall ferromagnet in a Si quantum well.

Magnetotransport properties are investigated for a high mobility Si two-dimensional electron system in the vicinity of a Landau level crossing point. At low temperatures, the resistance peak having a strong anisotropy shows large hysteresis which is attributed to Ising quantum Hall ferromagnetism. The peak is split into two peaks in the paramagnetic regime. A mean field calculation for the peak positions indicates that electron scattering is strong when the pseudospin is partially polarized. We also study the current-voltage characteristics which exhibit a wide voltage plateau.