Photoluminescence of phosphorus atomic layer doped Ge grown on Si

Improvement of the photoluminescence (PL) of Phosphorus (P) doped Ge by P atomic layer doping (ALD) is investigated. Fifty P delta layers of 8 ×10¹³ cm^-2 separated by 4 nm Ge spacer are selectively deposited at 300 °C on a 700 nm thick P-doped Ge buffer layer of 1.4 × 10¹⁹ cm^-3 on SiO₂ structured Si (100) substrate. A high P concentration region of 1.6 × 10²⁰ cm^-3 with abrupt P delta profiles is formed by the P-ALD process. Compared to the P-doped Ge buffer layer, a reduced PL intensity is observed, which might be caused by a higher density of point defects in the P delta doped Ge layer. The peak position is shifted by ∼0.1 eV towards lower energy, indicating an increased active carrier concentration in the P-delta doped Ge layer. By introducing annealing at 400 °C to 500 °C after each Ge spacer deposition, P desorption and diffusion is observed resulting in relatively uniform P profiles of ∼2 × 10¹⁹ cm^-3. Increased PL intensity and red shift of the PL peak are observed due to improved crystallinity and higher active P concentration.