Epitaxy and characterization of GaInP/AlInP light-emitting diodes on As-doped Ge/Si substrates.

We investigate the impact of threading dislocation density (TDD) and thermal conductivity of substrates on the performance of GaInP/AlInP light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for the integration of III-V optoelectronics on Si. We utilized an arsenic (As) doped Ge/Si substrate that showed a reduced TDD compared to undoped Ge/Si. Compared to LEDs on undoped Ge/Si, the leakage current density for LEDs on As-doped Ge/Si substrate is reduced by four orders of magnitude and the light output is increased six-fold. An increased junction temperature causes light output saturation for LEDs on bulk Ge at high injection current densities. The light output of LEDs on As-doped Ge/Si shows good linearity with injection current density and its junction temperature is ~25 ± 5 °C lower than that of LEDs on bulk Ge at high injection current densities due to better thermal conductivity of the Ge/Si substrate.