The effect of annealing time on the structural and optical characteristics of germanium-silicon microresonators

Kukenov O.I., Lozovoy K.А., Dirko V.V., Maier X.A., Vorsin O.I., Smorodin K.I., Katrenko V.D., Shabanov G.A., Kokhanenko A.P.

For Russian citation (Opticheskii Zhurnal):

Кукенов О.И., Лозовой К.А., Дирко В.В., Майер К.А., Ворсин О.И., Смородин К.И., Катренко В.Д., Шабанов Г.А., Коханенко А.П. Влияние времени отжига на структурные и оптические характеристики микрорезонаторов германий-кремний // Оптический журнал. 2026. Т. 93. № 12. С. 116–123. http://doi.org/10.17586/1023-5086-2026-93-12-116-123

Kukenov O.I., Lozovoy K.A., Dirko V.V., Maier X.A., Vorsin O.I., Smorodin K.I., Katrenko V.D., Shabanov G.A., Kokhanenko A.P. The effect of annealing time on the structural and optical characteristics of germanium-silicon microresonators [in Russian] // Opticheskii Zhurnal. 2026. V. 93. № 12. P. 116–123. http://doi.org/10.17586/1023-5086-2026-93-12-116-123

For citation (Journal of Optical Technology):

Abstract:

Scope of research. The article is devoted to the study of the effect of growth parameters on the characteristics of GeSi microresonators obtained by the method of molecular beam epitaxy through self-organization. The purpose of the work is to establish the dependences of geometric and optical characteristics on the growth parameters of microresonators based on Ge and Si materials. Methods. A layer of GeSi solid solution was applied to a Si(001) substrate with an oxide layer (SiO2) by molecular beam epitaxy followed by high temperature annealing. The geometric characteristics were studied by atomic force microscopy. Optical characteristics were obtained by transmission and diffuse reflection spectroscopy. Numerical calculations of the characteristics of microresonators were carried out using Lumerical software. Main results. In this work, by changing the annealing time of the solid solution, a series of samples with microstructures were obtained. An examination of the samples by atomic force microscopy showed that the lateral size, height, shape, and density of the microresonators vary depending on the annealing time. Transmission and reflection spectra for microresonators with specified geometric characteristics are obtained by numerical simulation. Experimental measurements by means of transmission and reflection spectrometry made it possible to obtain the optical characteristics of the samples and compare them with the calculated data. Practical significance. The results of the work contribute to the creation of microresonators with specified properties and make it possible to control geometric and optical characteristics by changing the annealing time of a silicon-germanium solid solution.

Keywords:

microresonators, molecular beam epitaxy, atomic force microscopy, transmission spectra, reflection spectra, silicon, germanium

Acknowledgements:

the research was carried out at the expense of the grant of the Russian Science Foundation № 25-12-20004, https://rscf.ru/en/project/25-12-20004/ and the Administration of the Tomsk region.

OCIS codes: 230.5750, 160.6030, 310.6860

References:

1. Singh N., Kingshuk S., Ajay K. et al. Challenges and opportunities in engineering next-generation 3D microelectronic devices: improved performance and higher integration density // Nanoscale Advances. 2024. V. 6. № 24. P. 6044–6060. DOI:10.1039/D4NA00578C
2. Cao W., Bu H., Vinet M. et al. The future transistors // Nature. 2023. V. 620. № 7974. P. 501–515. DOI:10.1038/s41586-023-06145-x
3. Lozovoy K.A., Dirko V.V., Kukenov O.I. et al. RHEED study of the epitaxial growth of silicon and germanium on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite // C (Journal of Carbon Research). 2024. V. 10. № 2. P. 36. DOI:10.3390/c10020036
4. McMahon P.L. The physics of optical computing // Nature Reviews Physics. 2023. V. 5. № 12. P. 717–734. DOI:10.1038/s42254-023-00645-5
5. Ma T., Xue N., Muhammad А. et al. Recent progress in photodetectors: From materials to structures and applications // Micromachines. 2024. V. 15. P. 1249. DOI:10.3390/mi15101249
6. Yan T., Li L., Zhang Y. et al. High-performance Ge photodetectors on silicon photonics platform for optical interconnect // Sensors and Actuators: A. Physical. 2024. V. 376. P. 115535. DOI:10.1016/j.sna.2024.115535
7. Mitchell C.J., Hu T., Sun S. et al. Mid-infrared silicon photonics: From benchtop to real-world applications // APL Photonics. 2024. V. 9. P. 080901. DOI:10.1063/ 5.0222890
8. Margalit N., Xiang C., Bowers S. M. et al. Perspective on the future of silicon photonics and electronics // Applied Physics Letters. 2021. V. 118. P. 220501. DOI:10.1063/5.0050117
9. Konstantatos G., Sargent E.H. Nanostructured materials for photon detection // Nature nanotechnology. 2010. V. 5. № 6. P. 391–400. DOI:10.1038/nnano. 2010.78
10. Kuznetsov A.I., Miroshnichenko A.E., Brongersma M.L. et al. Optically resonant dielectric nanostructures // Science. 2016. V. 354. № 6314. P. aag2472. DOI:10.1126/science.aag2472
11. Aladim A.K., Aouassa M., Bouabdellaoui M. et al. SiGe/Ge core-multishell nanocrystals grown by solidstate dewetting and Ge thermal condensation for photodetection and solar cell applications // Journal of Alloys and Compounds. 2025. P. 184169. DOI:10.1016/j.jallcom.2025.184169
12. Aouassa M., Bouabdellaoui M., Pessoa W. B. et al. SiGe Mie resonators grown on photoactive silicon nanodisks for high-performance photodetection // Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics. 2025. V. 36. P. 394. DOI:10.1007/s10854-025-14447-1
13. Baranov D.G., Zuev D.A., Lepeshov S.I. et al. All-dielectric nanophotonics: the quest for better materials and fabrication techniques // Optica. 2017. V. 4. № 7. P. 814–825. DOI:10.1364/OPTICA.4.000814
14. Shklyaev A.A., Utkin D.E., Tsarev A.V. et al. Array of dielectric Mie particles with optical surface resonances as a promising coating for thin-film photoelectronic device applications // Vacuum. 2025. V. 233. P. 113976. DOI:10.1016/j.vacuum.2024.113976
15. Shklyaev A.A., Latyshev A.V. Dewetting behavior of Ge layers on SiO2 under annealing // Scientific Reports. 2020. V. 10. P. 13759. DOI:10.1038/s41598-020-70723-6
16. Lozovoy K.A., Dirko V.V., Vinarskiy V.P. et al. Twodimensional materials of group IVA: Latest advances in epitaxial methods of growth // Russian Physics Journal. 2022. V. 64. P. 1583–1591. DOI:10.1007/s11182-022-02495-7
17. Dirko V.V., Lozovoy K.A., Kokhanenko A.P. et al. Peculiarities of the 7×7 to 5×5 superstructure transition during epitaxial growth of germanium on silicon (111) surface // Nanomaterials. 2023. V. 13. № 2. P. 231. DOI:10.3390/nano13020231
18. Tambo T., Shimizu A., Matsuda A. et al. In-situ annealing of thin SrO films grown on Si (001)-2×1 by molecular beam epitaxy // Japanese Journal of Applied Physics. 2000. V. 39. № 11R. P. 6432. DOI:10.1143/JJAP.39.6432
19. Hasegawa S. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction // Characterization of Materials. 2012. V. 97. P. 1925–1938. DOI:10.1002/0471266965.com139
20. Kukenov O.I., Dirko V.V., Sokolov A.S., Lozovoy K.A., Shvaleva K.I., Kokhanenko A.P., Voitsekhovskii A.V. Effect of changing the growth mechanism on the synthesis of two-dimensional germanium layers and quantum dots on silicon // Journal of Optical Technology. 2024. V. 91. P. 416–420. DOI:10.1364/JOT.91.000416
21. Shklyaev A.A., Shegai O.A., Nakamura Y., Ichikawa M. Impact ionization of excitons in Ge/Si structures with Ge quantum dots grown on the oxidized Si(100) surfaces // Journal of Applied Physics. 2014. V. 115. P. 203702. DOI:10.1063/1.4875101
22. Yang C.-S., Chang C.-H., Lin M.-H., Yu P., Wada O., Pan C.-L. THz conductivities of indium-tin-oxide nanowhiskers as a graded-refractive-index structure // Optics Express. 2012. V. 20. P. A441–A451. DOI:10.1364/oe.20.00a441