Spectral and current-voltage characteristics of Si-Si1-xGex heterostructures grown by liquid phase epitaxy

The spectral and current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of Si-Si1 - xGex heterostructures grown by liquid phase epitaxy on silicon substrates were studied. The dependence of the longwave photosensitivity boundary of these structures on the variband solid solution composition was determined. It is shown that these variband solid solutions can serve as transition buffer layers between silicon substrates and a structure based on a different semiconductor. These structures can be employed in elements converting a part of the IR solar radiation in cascade solar cells and in photodetectors for the optical fiber communication lines transmitting signals with the wavelengths lambda = 1.33 and 1.5 mum. (C) 2001 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".