Hexagonal-Ge Nanostructures with Direct-Bandgap Emissions in a Si-Based Light-Emitting Metasurface

Si-based emitters have been of great interest as an ideal light source for monolithic optical-electronic integrated circuits (MOEICs) on Si substrates. However, the general Si-based material is a diamond structure of cubic lattice with an indirect band gap, which cannot emit light efficiently. Here, hexagonal-Ge (H–Ge) nanostructures within a light-emitting metasurface consisting of a cubic-SiGe nanodisk array are reported. The H–Ge nanostructure is naturally formed within the cubic-Ge epitaxially grown on Si (001) substrates due to the strain-induced nanoscale crystal structure transformation assisted by far-from-equilibrium growth conditions. The direct-bandgap features of H–Ge nanostructures are observed and discussed, including a rather strong and linearly power-dependent photoluminescence (PL) peak around 1562 nm at room temperature and temperature-insensitive PL spectrum near room temperature. Given the direct-bandgap nature, the heterostructure of H–Ge/C-Ge, and the compatibility with the sophisticated Si technology, the H–Ge nanostructure has great potential for innovative light sources and other functional devices, particularly in Si-based MOEICs.