Tellurium-hyperdoped Si for infrared optoelectronics

In this work, we report on the preparation of Te-hyperdoped Si. The hyperdoped Si layers are homogeneous, do not show cellular breakdown, and have a flat surface. Based on the obtained materials, we demonstrate a room-temperature mid-wavelength infrared Si p-n photodiode working in photovoltaic mode. The fabricated photodiode exhibits enhanced performance, e.g. regarding spectral photoresponse, specific detectivity, bandwidth and response speed. Moreover, inherited from the high free carrier concentration, mid-infrared-localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPR) are also observed in hyperdoped Si. We show that the mid-infrared LSPR can be further enhanced and spectrally extended to the far-infrared range by fabricating two-dimensional arrays of micrometer-sized antennas on a Te-hyperdoped Si chip. Since Te-hyperdoped Si can also work as an infrared photodetector, we believe that our results will unlock the route toward the direct integration of plasmonic sensors within a one-chip CMOS platform, greatly advancing the possibility of mass manufacturing of Si-based infrared photonic systems.