TERAHERTZ EMISSION FROM ELECTRICALLY PUMPED SILICON GERMANIUM INTERSUBBAND DEVICES
In this paper, we report on current pumped THz emitting devices based on intersubband transitions in SiGe quantum wells. The spectral lines occurred in a range from 5 to 12 THz depending on the quantum well width, Ge concentration in the well, and device temperature. A time-averaged power of 15 nW was extracted from a 16 period SiGe/Si superlattice with quantum wells 22 Å thick, at a device temperature of 30 K and a drive current of 550 mA. A net quantum efficiency of approximately 3 × 10−4 was calculated from the power and drive current, 30 times higher than reported for comparable quantum cascades utilizing heavy-hole to heavy-hole transitions and, taking into account the number of quantum well periods, approximately four times larger than for electroluminescence reported previously from a device utilizing light-hole to heavy-hole transitions.
