MBE-enabled lAser emitters with low dimensional SiGeSn Quantum heterostructures. – MAGIQ

Owning to their indirect band structure, group-IV materials were traditionally considered as very poor optical sources, unable to produce laser emission. Very recently, this paradigm shifted with experimental demonstrations of direct band gap alignment in both tensile-strained pure germanium and germanium-tin alloys. These demonstrations were instantaneously followed by achievements of optically pumped lasing in bulk layers. However, at room temperature the lasing thresholds of group-IV direct bandgap lasers are still excessively high. To extend the potential of these materials, our project will develop near- and mid- infrared laser technologies based on quantum heterostructures in group-IV SiGeSn semiconductors. Today, the community is still almost totally lacking knowledge on GeSn quantum dots (QDs), and yet very few works were devoted to quantum wells. Even the growth of GeSn QDs is not readily available, while these low dimensional structures are known to be at the basement of quantum sources and are susceptible to provide very low lasing thresholds. The present project will develop the growth of these low-dimensional structures, study their band structures, and explore their potential as laser emitters potentially far superior to the bulk counterparts. The case of GeSn quantum well will also be explored using specific approaches combining the expertise of the consortium. The MAGIQ project will provide a unique material platform joining renowned experts on GeSn growth with both CVD and MBE techniques, strong expertise in material processing and engineering, design and analysis of group-IV lasers. The consortium will perform a laser benchmarking that would offer guidelines for future development of group-IV fully CMOS-compatible optical sources.