A Behavioral Model for High Ge Content in Si/Si1− x Ge x Multi-Quantum Well Detector

• Published in: IEEE sensors journal 2018-01, Vol.18 (20), p.8280
• Main Authors: Atia Shafique, Abbasi, Shahbaz, Ceylan, Omer, Goeritz, Alexander, Yamamoto, Yuji, Kaynak, Canan Baristiran, Kaynak, Mehmet, Gurbuz, Yasar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Computer simulation; Empirical analysis; Germanium; Mathematical models; Multi Quantum Wells; Sensors; Silicon
• ISSN: 1530-437X; 1558-1748
• DOI: 10.1109/JSEN.2018.2865033

This paper presents a behavioral model for a Si/Si1− x Ge x multi-quantum well (MQW) detector that predicts device characteristics to investigate the effect of increasing Ge content in Si/Si1− x Ge x MQW. The modeling approach in this paper is based on a physical instead of empirical approach, which allows to obtain a predictive behavioral analysis of high Ge content with only a few fitting parameters. The model is used to simulate device transfer characteristics with respect to various amounts of Ge content used for Si1− x Ge x layer in MQW. The simulation results of the proposed model are validated with the experimental data. The simulated and the experimental data are consistent over a wide range of Ge content varied from 30% up to 50%. The primary objective of this paper is to optimize Ge content in the Si/Si1− x Ge x MQW detector to achieve desired thermal sensitivity measured in terms of temperature coefficient of resistance for a potential microbolometer application. This is the first study in the literature to develop such a highly predictive behavioral model of a Ge-enriched Si/Si1− x Ge x MQW. The study also presents the effect of including the carbon delta layers at the Si/Si1− x Ge x heterointerface on the device transfer characteristics. The effect of Ge content on the overall noise is also investigated by the noise characterization of the test devices.