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Photodetectors based on germanium which do not require cooling and can provide good near-infrared (NIR) detection performance offer a low-cost alternative to conventional infrared sensors based on material systems such as InGaAs, InSb, and HgCdTe. As a result of the significant difference in thermal expansion coefficients between germanium and silicon, tensile strain incorporated into Ge epitaxial layers deposited on Si utilizing specialized growth processes can extend the operational range of detection to 1600 nm and longer wavelengths. We have fabricated Ge based PIN photodetectors on 300 mm diameter Si wafers to take advantage of high throughput, large-area complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology. This device fabrication process involves low temperature epitaxial deposition of Ge to form a thin p+ (boron) Ge seed/buffer layer, and subsequent higher temperature deposition of a thicker Ge intrinsic layer. This is followed by selective ion implantation of phosphorus of various concentrations to form n+ Ge regions, deposition of a passivating oxide cap, and then top copper contacts to complete the PIN detector devices. Various techniques including transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) have been employed to characterize the material and structural properties of the epitaxially grown layers and fabricated detector devices, and these results are presented. The I-V response of the photodetector devices with and without illumination was also measured, for which the Ge based photodetectors consistently exhibited low dark currents of around ~1 nA at -1 V bias.
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