Photovoltage Performance of Ge/Si Nanostructures Grown on Intermediate Ultrathin SiOX Layers

Abstract

An enhanced photovoltage is reported to occur in Ge/Si structures with a SiOx layer having a thickness of 0.5-2 nm and placed between a Si substrate and Ge nanoislands. The effect is interpreted in terms of an increased separation distance for photoexcited electrons and holes occurring in the stress fields generated in the oxidized Ge/SiOx/Si structure. The electron-hole separation is modeled utilizing finite-element method techniques, and a good agreement between the experimentally observed enhancement and the computationally increased inter-charge distance is obtained. It is also found that insertion of the oxide layer accelerates the photovoltage decay. This result is interpreted in terms of competing processes, involving the direct recombination of the separated electrons and holes and multi-trapping behavior typical of disordered systems caused by Ge islands.