Adaptive Epitaxy of C‐Si‐Ge‐Sn: Customizable Bulk and Quantum Structures
The successful demonstration of (Si)Ge<sub>1-x</sub>Sn<sub>x</sub> alloys as direct-gap materials for infrared lasers has driven intense research on group IV-based devices for nanoelectronics, energy harvesting, and quantum computing applications. The material palette of direct-gap group-IV alloys can be further extended by introducing carbon to fine-tune their structural and electronic properties, significantly expanding their functionality. This work presents heteroepitaxial growth of C(Si)GeSn alloys using an industry-standard reduced-pressure chemical vapor deposition reactor. The introduction of CBr<sub>4</sub> as a precursor enables controlled incorporation of C atoms (<1 at.%) into the epilayer lattice, while simultaneously increasing the Sn content in the CGeSn alloy up to ≈18 at.%. Carbon plays a key role in modulating strain, stabilizing the crystal structure, and influencing material properties. By leveraging alloying and strain engineering, quaternary CSiGeSn bulk layers and CGeSn/GeSn heterostructures are epitaxially grown. The impact of C incorporation on optical emission is investigated in LEDs based on CGeSn/GeSn multiple quantum wells, demonstrating enhanced near-infrared emission at 2.54 µm, which is sustained up to room temperature.
Authors
- A. T. Tiedemann
- Omar Concepción (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8197-7523)
- Lukas Seidel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9147-7300)
- Markus Andreas Schubert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-7213-0443)
- Jin Hee Bae
- Dan Buca (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3692-5596)
- Michael Oehme (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1637-1338)
- Qing‐Tai Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2794-2757)
- Christopher A. Broderick (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5370-7582)
- Detlev Grützmacher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6290-9672)
- Florian Bärwolf (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3640-9700)
- Marvin Zöllner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7204-1096)
- Giovanni Capellini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5169-2823)
- Vincent Reboud
- Alexei Tchelnokov
- Ambrishkumar J. Devaiya
Institutions
- University of Stuttgart (DE)
- Roma Tre University (IT)
- Forschungszentrum Jülich (DE)
- Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (FR)
- University College Cork (IE)
- CEA Grenoble (FR)
- Laboratoire d'Électronique des Technologies de l'Information (FR)
- Leibniz Institute for High Performance Microelectronics (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Materials
- Published
- 2025-06-11
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202506919
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Photonic and Optical Devices
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.19
Funders
- Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland
- European Commission
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft