We have investigated the optical properties of tensile-strained germanium photonic wires. The photonic wires patterned by electron beam lithography (50 μm long, 1 μm wide and 500 nm thick) are obtained by growing a n-doped germanium film on a GaAs substrate. Tensile strain is transferred in the germanium layer using a Si₃N₄ stressor. Tensile strain around 0.4% achieved by the technique corresponds to an optical recombination of tensile-strained germanium involving light hole band around 1690 nm at room temperature. We show that the waveguided emission associated with a single tensile-strained germanium wire increases superlinearly as a function of the illuminated length. A 20% decrease of the spectral broadening is observed as the pump intensity is increased. All these features are signatures of optical gain. A 80 cm⁻¹ modal optical gain is derived from the variable strip length method. This value is accounted for by the calculated gain material value using a 30 band k · p formalism. These germanium wires represent potential building blocks for integration of nanoscale optical sources on silicon.

© 2011 OSA

1. J. Liu, X. Sun, L. C. Kimerling, and J. Michel, “Direct-gap optical gain of Ge on Si at room temperature,” Opt. Lett. 34, 1738–1740 (2009). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
2. J. Liu, X. Sun, R. Camacho-Aguilera, L. C. Kimerling, and J. Michel, “Ge-on-Si laser operating at room temperature,” Opt. Lett. 35, 679–681 (2010). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
3. D. Liang and J. E. Bowers, “Recent progress in lasers on silicon,” Nat. Photonics 4, 511–517 (2010). [CrossRef]
4. J. Menendez and J. Kouvetakis, “Type-I Ge/Ge1–x–ySixSny strained-layer heterostructures with a direct Ge bandgap,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 85, 1175–1177 (2004). [CrossRef]
5. Y. Bai, K. E. Lee, C. Cheng, M. L. Lee, and E. A. Fitzgerald, “Growth of highly tensile-strained Ge on relaxed InxGa1–xAs by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition,” J. Appl. Phys. 104, 084518 (2008). [CrossRef]
6. Y. Huo, H. Lin, R. Chen, M. Makarova, Y. Rong, M. Li, T. I. Kamins, J. Vuckovic, and J. S. Harris, “Strong enhancement of direct transition photoluminescence with highly tensile-strained Ge grown by molecular beam epitaxy,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 98, 011111 (2011). [CrossRef]
7. R. Jakomin, M. de Kersauson, M. E. Kurdi, L. Largeau, O. Mauguin, G. Beaudoin, S. Sauvage, R. Ossikovski, G. Ndong, M. Chaigneau, I. Sagnes, and P. Boucaud, “High quality tensile-strained n-doped germanium thin films grown on InGaAs buffer layers by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 98, 091901 (2011). [CrossRef]
8. M. El Kurdi, H. Bertin, E. Martincic, M. de Kersauson, G. Fishman, S. Sauvage, A. Bosseboeuf, and P. Boucaud, “Control of direct band gap emission of bulk germanium by mechanical tensile strain,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 041909 (2010). [CrossRef]
9. T.-H. Cheng, K.-L. Peng, C.-Y. Ko, C.-Y. Chen, H.-S. Lan, Y.-R. Wu, C. W. Liu, and H.-H. Tseng, “Strain-enhanced photoluminescence from Ge direct transition,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 211108 (2010). [CrossRef]
10. R. S. Jacobsen, K. N. Andersen, P. I. Borel, J. Fage-Pedersen, L. H. Frandsen, O. Hansen, M. Kristensen, A. V. Lavrinenko, G. Moulin, H. Ou, C. Peucheret, B. Zsigri, and A. Bjarklev, “Strained silicon as a new electro-optic material,” Nature 441, 199–202 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
11. R. Jakomin, G. Beaudoin, N. Gogneau, B. Lamare, L. Largeau, O. Mauguin, and I. Sagnes, “p and n-type germanium layers grown using iso-butyl germane in a III–V metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy reactor,” Thin Solid Films 519, 4186–4191 (2011). [CrossRef]
12. M. de Kersauson, R. Jakomin, M. El Kurdi, G. Beaudoin, N. Zerounian, F. Aniel, S. Sauvage, I. Sagnes, and P. Boucaud, “Direct and indirect band gap room temperature electroluminescence of Ge diodes,” J. Appl. Phys. 108, 023105 (2010). [CrossRef]
13. J. Liu, X. Sun, D. Pan, X. Wang, L. C. Kimerling, T. L. Koch, and J. Michel, “Tensile-strained, n-type Ge as a gain medium for monolithic laser integration on Si,” Opt. Express 15, 11272–11277 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
14. M. El Kurdi, T. Kociniewski, T.-P. Ngo, J. Boulmer, D. Debarre, P. Boucaud, J. F. Damlencourt, O. Kermarrec, and D. Bensahel, “Enhanced photoluminescence of heavily n-doped germanium,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 94, 191107 (2009).
15. V. Yam, V. Le Thanh, Y. Zheng, P. Boucaud, and D. Bouchier, “Photoluminescence study of a bimodal size distribution of Ge/Si(001) quantum dots,” Phys. Rev. B 63, 033313 (2001). [CrossRef]
16. J. O’Gorman, S. L. Chuang, and A. F. J. Levi, “Carrier pinning by mode fluctuations in laser diodes,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 62, 1454–1456 (1993). [CrossRef]
17. J. R. Haynes, “New radiation resulting from recombination of holes and electrons in germanium,” Phys. Rev. 98, 1866–1868 (1955). [CrossRef]
18. K. L. Shaklee and R. F. Leheny, “Direct determination of optical gain in semiconductor crystals,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 18, 475–477 (1971). [CrossRef]
19. M. D. McGehee, R. Gupta, S. Veenstra, E. K. Miller, M. A. Díaz-García, and A. J. Heeger, “Amplified spontaneous emission from photopumped films of a conjugated polymer,” Phys. Rev. B 58, 7035–7039 (1998). [CrossRef]
20. X. Sun, J. Liu, L. C. Kimerling, and J. Michel, “Room-temperature direct bandgap electroluminesence from Ge-on-Si light-emitting diodes,” Opt. Lett. 34, 1198–1200 (2009). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
21. S.-L. Cheng, J. Lu, G. Shambat, H.-Y. Yu, K. Saraswat, J. Vuckovic, and Y. Nishi, “Room temperature 1.6 μm electroluminescence from Ge light emitting diode on Si substrate,” Opt. Express 17, 10019–10024 (2009). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
22. W. Klingenstein and H. Schweizer, “Direct gap recombination in germanium at high excitation level and low temperature,” Solid-State Electron. 21, 1371–1374 (1978). [CrossRef]
23. R. Conradt and J. Aengenheister, “Minority carrier lifetime in highly doped Ge,” Solid State Commun. 10, 321–323 (1972). [CrossRef]
24. M. El Kurdi, G. Fishman, S. Sauvage, and P. Boucaud, “Band structure and optical gain of tensile-strained germanium based on a 30 band k · p formalism,” J. Appl. Phys. 107, 013710 (2010). [CrossRef]
25. M. El Kurdi, S. Sauvage, G. Fishman, and P. Boucaud, “Band-edge alignment of SiGe/Si quantum wells and SiGe/Si self-assembled islands,” Phys. Rev. B 73, 195327 (2006).
26. S.-W. Chang and S. L. Chuang, “Theory of optical gain of Ge-SixGeySn1–x–y quantum-well lasers,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 43, 249–256 (2007). [CrossRef]
27. L. Allen and G. I. Peters, “Amplified spontaneous emission and external signal amplification in an inverted medium,” Phys. Rev. A 8, 2031–2047 (1973). [CrossRef]
28. M. El Kurdi, S. David, X. Checoury, G. Fishman, P. Boucaud, O. Kermarrec, D. Bensahel, and B. Ghyselen, “Two-dimensional photonic crystals with pure germanium-on-insulator,” Opt. Commun. 281, 846–850 (2008). [CrossRef]
29. T.-P. Ngo, M. El Kurdi, X. Checoury, P. Boucaud, J. F. Damlencourt, O. Kermarrec, and D. Bensahel, “Two-dimensional photonic crystals with germanium on insulator obtained by a condensation method,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 93, 241112 (2008). [CrossRef]
30. J. C. Johnson, H.-J. Choi, K. P. Knutsen, R. D. Schaller, P. Yang, and R. J. Saykally, “Single gallium nitride nanowire lasers,” Nat. Mater. 1, 106–110 (2002). [CrossRef]
31. X. Duan, Y. Huang, R. Agarwal, and C. M. Lieber, “Single-nanowire electrically driven lasers.” Nature 421, 241 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
32. M. A. Zimmler, F. Capasso, S. Moller, and C. Ronning, “Optically pumped nanowire lasers: invited review,” Semicond. Sci. Technol. 25, 024001 (2010). [CrossRef]

Appl. Phys. Lett.

• J. Menendez and J. Kouvetakis, “Type-I Ge/Ge1–x–ySixSny strained-layer heterostructures with a direct Ge bandgap,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 85, 1175–1177 (2004). [CrossRef]
• Y. Huo, H. Lin, R. Chen, M. Makarova, Y. Rong, M. Li, T. I. Kamins, J. Vuckovic, and J. S. Harris, “Strong enhancement of direct transition photoluminescence with highly tensile-strained Ge grown by molecular beam epitaxy,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 98, 011111 (2011). [CrossRef]
• R. Jakomin, M. de Kersauson, M. E. Kurdi, L. Largeau, O. Mauguin, G. Beaudoin, S. Sauvage, R. Ossikovski, G. Ndong, M. Chaigneau, I. Sagnes, and P. Boucaud, “High quality tensile-strained n-doped germanium thin films grown on InGaAs buffer layers by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 98, 091901 (2011). [CrossRef]
• M. El Kurdi, H. Bertin, E. Martincic, M. de Kersauson, G. Fishman, S. Sauvage, A. Bosseboeuf, and P. Boucaud, “Control of direct band gap emission of bulk germanium by mechanical tensile strain,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 041909 (2010). [CrossRef]
• T.-H. Cheng, K.-L. Peng, C.-Y. Ko, C.-Y. Chen, H.-S. Lan, Y.-R. Wu, C. W. Liu, and H.-H. Tseng, “Strain-enhanced photoluminescence from Ge direct transition,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 211108 (2010). [CrossRef]
• M. El Kurdi, T. Kociniewski, T.-P. Ngo, J. Boulmer, D. Debarre, P. Boucaud, J. F. Damlencourt, O. Kermarrec, and D. Bensahel, “Enhanced photoluminescence of heavily n-doped germanium,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 94, 191107 (2009).
• J. O’Gorman, S. L. Chuang, and A. F. J. Levi, “Carrier pinning by mode fluctuations in laser diodes,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 62, 1454–1456 (1993). [CrossRef]
• K. L. Shaklee and R. F. Leheny, “Direct determination of optical gain in semiconductor crystals,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 18, 475–477 (1971). [CrossRef]
• T.-P. Ngo, M. El Kurdi, X. Checoury, P. Boucaud, J. F. Damlencourt, O. Kermarrec, and D. Bensahel, “Two-dimensional photonic crystals with germanium on insulator obtained by a condensation method,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 93, 241112 (2008). [CrossRef]

IEEE J. Quantum Electron.

• S.-W. Chang and S. L. Chuang, “Theory of optical gain of Ge-SixGeySn1–x–y quantum-well lasers,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 43, 249–256 (2007). [CrossRef]

J. Appl. Phys.

• M. El Kurdi, G. Fishman, S. Sauvage, and P. Boucaud, “Band structure and optical gain of tensile-strained germanium based on a 30 band k · p formalism,” J. Appl. Phys. 107, 013710 (2010). [CrossRef]
• M. de Kersauson, R. Jakomin, M. El Kurdi, G. Beaudoin, N. Zerounian, F. Aniel, S. Sauvage, I. Sagnes, and P. Boucaud, “Direct and indirect band gap room temperature electroluminescence of Ge diodes,” J. Appl. Phys. 108, 023105 (2010). [CrossRef]
• Y. Bai, K. E. Lee, C. Cheng, M. L. Lee, and E. A. Fitzgerald, “Growth of highly tensile-strained Ge on relaxed InxGa1–xAs by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition,” J. Appl. Phys. 104, 084518 (2008). [CrossRef]

Nat. Mater.

• J. C. Johnson, H.-J. Choi, K. P. Knutsen, R. D. Schaller, P. Yang, and R. J. Saykally, “Single gallium nitride nanowire lasers,” Nat. Mater. 1, 106–110 (2002). [CrossRef]

Nat. Photonics

• D. Liang and J. E. Bowers, “Recent progress in lasers on silicon,” Nat. Photonics 4, 511–517 (2010). [CrossRef]

Nature

• X. Duan, Y. Huang, R. Agarwal, and C. M. Lieber, “Single-nanowire electrically driven lasers.” Nature 421, 241 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• R. S. Jacobsen, K. N. Andersen, P. I. Borel, J. Fage-Pedersen, L. H. Frandsen, O. Hansen, M. Kristensen, A. V. Lavrinenko, G. Moulin, H. Ou, C. Peucheret, B. Zsigri, and A. Bjarklev, “Strained silicon as a new electro-optic material,” Nature 441, 199–202 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Opt. Commun.

• M. El Kurdi, S. David, X. Checoury, G. Fishman, P. Boucaud, O. Kermarrec, D. Bensahel, and B. Ghyselen, “Two-dimensional photonic crystals with pure germanium-on-insulator,” Opt. Commun. 281, 846–850 (2008). [CrossRef]

Opt. Express

• S.-L. Cheng, J. Lu, G. Shambat, H.-Y. Yu, K. Saraswat, J. Vuckovic, and Y. Nishi, “Room temperature 1.6 μm electroluminescence from Ge light emitting diode on Si substrate,” Opt. Express 17, 10019–10024 (2009). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• J. Liu, X. Sun, D. Pan, X. Wang, L. C. Kimerling, T. L. Koch, and J. Michel, “Tensile-strained, n-type Ge as a gain medium for monolithic laser integration on Si,” Opt. Express 15, 11272–11277 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Opt. Lett.

• J. Liu, X. Sun, L. C. Kimerling, and J. Michel, “Direct-gap optical gain of Ge on Si at room temperature,” Opt. Lett. 34, 1738–1740 (2009). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• J. Liu, X. Sun, R. Camacho-Aguilera, L. C. Kimerling, and J. Michel, “Ge-on-Si laser operating at room temperature,” Opt. Lett. 35, 679–681 (2010). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• X. Sun, J. Liu, L. C. Kimerling, and J. Michel, “Room-temperature direct bandgap electroluminesence from Ge-on-Si light-emitting diodes,” Opt. Lett. 34, 1198–1200 (2009). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Phys. Rev.

• J. R. Haynes, “New radiation resulting from recombination of holes and electrons in germanium,” Phys. Rev. 98, 1866–1868 (1955). [CrossRef]

Phys. Rev. A

• L. Allen and G. I. Peters, “Amplified spontaneous emission and external signal amplification in an inverted medium,” Phys. Rev. A 8, 2031–2047 (1973). [CrossRef]

Phys. Rev. B

• M. El Kurdi, S. Sauvage, G. Fishman, and P. Boucaud, “Band-edge alignment of SiGe/Si quantum wells and SiGe/Si self-assembled islands,” Phys. Rev. B 73, 195327 (2006).
• M. D. McGehee, R. Gupta, S. Veenstra, E. K. Miller, M. A. Díaz-García, and A. J. Heeger, “Amplified spontaneous emission from photopumped films of a conjugated polymer,” Phys. Rev. B 58, 7035–7039 (1998). [CrossRef]
• V. Yam, V. Le Thanh, Y. Zheng, P. Boucaud, and D. Bouchier, “Photoluminescence study of a bimodal size distribution of Ge/Si(001) quantum dots,” Phys. Rev. B 63, 033313 (2001). [CrossRef]

Semicond. Sci. Technol.

• M. A. Zimmler, F. Capasso, S. Moller, and C. Ronning, “Optically pumped nanowire lasers: invited review,” Semicond. Sci. Technol. 25, 024001 (2010). [CrossRef]

Solid State Commun.

• R. Conradt and J. Aengenheister, “Minority carrier lifetime in highly doped Ge,” Solid State Commun. 10, 321–323 (1972). [CrossRef]

Solid-State Electron.

• W. Klingenstein and H. Schweizer, “Direct gap recombination in germanium at high excitation level and low temperature,” Solid-State Electron. 21, 1371–1374 (1978). [CrossRef]

Thin Solid Films

• R. Jakomin, G. Beaudoin, N. Gogneau, B. Lamare, L. Largeau, O. Mauguin, and I. Sagnes, “p and n-type germanium layers grown using iso-butyl germane in a III–V metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy reactor,” Thin Solid Films 519, 4186–4191 (2011). [CrossRef]

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