Differential analysis of band-edge photoluminescence spectra of germanium single crystals with different orientations under biaxial tensile strains

Abstract

The previously published photoluminescence spectra of bulk germanium single crystals with orientations (100), (110), and (111) under different biaxial tensile strains have been investigated using the differential method proposed by the author for the analysis of luminescence spectra of semiconductors. An increase in the strain for all these orientations of the single crystals leads to a shift in the maxima of the differential spectra in the region of direct radiative transitions toward lower photon energies due to the narrowing of the germanium direct band gap. At the same time, the positions of the maxima of the differential spectra in the region of indirect radiative transitions remain almost unchanged. This indicates that the germanium indirect band gap does not depend on the tensile strains, at least for their values of ∼0.2–0.3%.