Hole emission mechanism in Ge/Si quantum dots

The mechanisms determining emission of holes in self-assembled Ge quantum dots (QDs) embedded in the p-type Si matrix have been investigated. Specimens were prepared by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Electrical methods such as deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) and capacitance versus voltage (C-V) measurements were used for the study. The emission mechanisms were identified by measuring a QD-related signal as a function of the repetition frequency of the filling pulses with the reverse voltage and the pulse voltage as a parameter. An observed shift of the signal position or its absence versus the voltage parameters was interpreted in terms of thermal, tunnelling and mixed processes and attributed to the presence of a Coulomb barrier formed as a result of the charging effect. Thermal emission properties of the QDs were characterized under such measurement conditions that tunnelling contributions to the DLTS spectra could be neglected.