Research Progress of GeSn Photodetectors for Infrared Application

Silicon platform is the foundation of the modern information industry. Silicon-based semiconductor materials are compatible with the complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process of silicon, which can extend the application of silicon from electronic integrated circuit chips to optoelectronic integrated circuit chips. Germanium tin (GeSn), as a silicon-based narrow bandgap material, has received widespread attention in the past decade, which can provide new functions for silicon optoelectronic integrated circuit chips. By studying how to solve the problems of lattice mismatch and Sn segregation, the preparation technology of GeSn single crystal materials has made great progress. GeSn optoelectronic devices such as detectors and light-emitting devices have been successively prepared. Here, we focus on the latest developments in GeSn detectors, for infrared detection, imaging and high-speed detectors. In addition to review the state of the art work, we also propose some research directions for infrared applications.