Infra-red optical properties of SiGe/Si heterostructures

Abstract

We present full-scale relativistic pseudopotential calculations of the first-order susceptibility in p-type SiGe/Si multiple quantum well structures with a view to exploring the suitability of such systems for infrared applications in the 3-5yrn and 8-15itm ranges. A derivation of an expression for the linear susceptibility, or absorption, is given and the frequency dependence of the linear response due to transitions between the valence minibands is determined.. The microscopic origin of the absorption is demonstrated for both parallel and normal incident light. Comparisons between calculated and experimental results are presented and shown to be in good agreement. The effects of changing well width, temperature, doping concentration and germanium concentration in the well are considered. We also consider Auger recombination and discuss the possibility of engineering the miniband structure in order to prevent certain Auger processes occuring, Preliminary results from full scale Auger calculations are also presented.