Thermally evaporated single-crystal Germanium on Silicon

Using conventional and polarization-dependent Raman spectroscopy we investigate the structural properties of Germanium films thermally evaporated on Silicon under various conditions. The analysis suggests that the Ge films can be crystalline, amorphous and poly-oriented, depending on the substrate temperature. We use both comparison with Raman spectra of Ge films grown on amorphous substrates and polarization-dependent Raman measurements to demonstrate that in the 250-450 degrees C interval, crystalline Ge films are epitaxial. This result is validated by means of large angle X-ray diffraction measurements. We employ these films to fabricate and characterize near infrared heterojunction photodiodes that exhibit high responsivities and low dark current densities. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.