Very large photoresponsiviy and high photocurrent linearity for Ge-dot/SiO2/SiGe photoMOSFETs under gate modulation

Opt Express. 2017 Oct 16;25(21):25467-25476. doi: 10.1364/OE.25.025467.

Abstract

We report a novel visible-near infrared photoMOSFET containing a self-organized, gate-stacking heterostructure of SiO2/Ge-dot/SiO2/SiGe-channel on Si substrate that is simultaneously fabricated in a single oxidation step. Our typical photoMOSFETs exhibit very large photoresponsivity of 1000-3000A/W at low optical power (< 0.1μW) or large photocurrent gain of 103-108A/A with a wide dynamic power range of at least 6 orders of magnitude (nW-mW) linearity at 400-1250 nm illumination, depending on whether the photoMOSFET operates at VG = + 3- + 4.5V or -1- + 1V. Numerical simulations reveal that photocarrier confinement within the Ge dots and the SiGe channel modifies the oxide field and the surface potential of SiGe, significantly increasing photocurrent and improving linearity.