1.9% bi-axial tensile strain in thick germanium suspended membranes fabricated in optical germanium-on-insulator substrates for laser applications

High tensile strains in Ge are currently studied for the development of integrated laser sources on Si. In this work, we developed specific Germanium-On-Insulator 200mm wafer to improve tolerance to high strains induced via shaping of the Ge layers into micro-bridges. Building on the high crystalline quality, we demonstrate bi-axial tensile strain of 1.9%, which is currently the highest reported value measured in thick (350 nm) Ge layer. Since this strain is generally considered as the onset of the direct bandgap in Ge, our realization paves the way towards mid-infrared lasers fully compatible with CMOS fab technology. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.