Optoelectronic devices based on thin single-crystalline semiconductor films and non-epitaxial optical cavities

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10777700-B2
Application number	US-201715612187-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 2, 2017
Priority date	Jun 2, 2017
Publication date	Sep 15, 2020
Grant date	Sep 15, 2020

Abstract

Optoelectronic devices that use very thin single-crystalline inorganic semiconductor films as phonon-absorbing layers in combination with non-lattice optical cavities are provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An optoelectronic device comprising:
an optical cavity comprising a reflector and a dielectric spacer overlying the reflector; and
a single-crystalline inorganic semiconductor film having a thickness no greater than 100 nm in contact with the dielectric spacer at a non-epitaxial interface.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the single-crystalline inorganic semiconductor film comprises a Group IV semiconductor, a Group II-VI semiconductor, or a Group III-V semiconductor.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the single-crystalline inorganic semiconductor film comprises a 2D semiconductor.

4. The device of claim 3 , wherein the 2D semiconductor is a transition metal dichalcogenide.

5. The device of claim 4 , wherein the transition metal dichalcogenide is a tungsten dichalcogenide.

6. The device of claim 4 , wherein the transition metal dichalcogenide is a transition metal selenide or a transition metal telluride.

7. The device of claim 1 , wherein the single-crystalline inorganic semiconductor film has a thickness no greater than 50 nm.

8. The device of claim 1 , wherein the single-crystalline inorganic semiconductor film has a thickness no greater than 20 nm.

9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the single-crystalline inorganic semiconductor film is characterized in that it absorbs radiation with wavelengths in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum, the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, or both.

10. The device of claim 2 , wherein the single-crystalline inorganic semiconductor is a Group IV semiconductor.

11. The device of claim 10 , wherein the Group IV semiconductor is Ge.

12. The device of claim 11 , wherein the dielectric spacer comprises Al 2 O 3 .

13. The device of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric spacer comprises Al 2 O 3 .

14. The device of claim 1 , wherein the single-crystalline inorganic semiconductor film is a continuous film without patterned openings or islands.

15. A phototransistor comprising:
an optical cavity comprising an electrically conductive reflector and a dielectric spacer overlying the reflector;
a single-crystalline inorganic semiconductor film having a thickness no greater than 100 nm in contact with the dielectric spacer at a non-epitaxial interface;
a source electrode; and
a drain electrode, wherein the source electrode and the drain electrode are in electrical communication with the single-crystalline semiconductor film.

16. The phototransistor of claim 15 , wherein the phototransistor has a normalized photocurrent-to-dark-current ratio of at least 1×10 4 mW −1 under a bias of 1 V when illuminated with broadband radiation at an incident power of 40 nW.

17. The phototransistor of claim 15 , wherein the phototransistor has a normalized photocurrent-to-dark-current ratio in the range from 1×10 4 mW −1 to 1×10 5 mW −1 under a bias of 1 V when illuminated with broadband radiation at an incident power of 40 nW.

18. The phototransistor of claim 16 , wherein the single-crystalline inorganic semiconductor is germanium and the single-crystalline inorganic semiconductor film has a thickness no greater than 50 nm.

19. A method of detecting radiation using the phototransistor of claim 14 , the method comprising:
exposing the single-crystalline inorganic semiconductor film to the radiation, whereby charge carries are photogenerated and a drain current is modulated; and
detecting the modulation of the drain current.

20. A device array comprising at least two optoelectronic devices, each of the at least two optoelectronic device comprising:
an optical cavity comprising a reflector and a dielectric spacer overlying the reflector; and
a single-crystalline inorganic semiconductor film having a thickness no greater than 100 nm in contact with the dielectric spacer at a non-epitaxial interface,
wherein the at least two optoelectronic devices have different absorption spectra.

21. The device array of claim 20 , wherein the single-crystalline inorganic semiconductor films in the at least two optoelectronic devices have different thicknesses.

Assignees

• Wisconsin Alumni Res Found
• Univ New York State Res Found

Inventors

• Ma Zhenqiang
• Xia Zhenyang
• Gan Qiaoqiang
• Song Haomin
• Yu Zongfu
• Zhou Ming

Classifications

• H10F77/413

  directly associated or integrated with the devices, e.g. back reflectors (directly associated or integrated with photovoltaic cells H10F77/42) · CPC title

• H10F77/124

  comprising only Group III-V materials, e.g. GaAs · CPC title

• H10F77/123

  comprising only Group II-VI materials, e.g. CdS, ZnS or HgCdTe · CPC title

• H10F77/122

  comprising only Group IV materials · CPC title

• H10F77/12

  Active materials · CPC title