Preparation and some properties of Mg2Si0.53Ge0.47 single crystal and Mg2Si0.53Ge0.47 pn-junction diode

This paper reports the results on fabrication methodology and photoresponse characteristics of Mg2Si0.53Ge0.47 pn-junction photodiode. At first, we have grown a Mg2Si0.53Ge0.47 single crystal with the Vertical Bridgman growth process. The grown crystal was characterized structurally and electrically by XRD, Laue, and Hall Effect measurements. XRD revealed the single-phase composition, Mg2Si0.53Ge0.47, of the grown crystal ingot. The clear Laue symmetrical diffraction pattern showed the single crystalline nature of the grown crystal. The Hall Effect measurement revealed the n-type conduction and the moderate Hall mobility (258 cm2/Vs), electrical resistivity (6.03E-02 Ω. cm), and carrier density (4.02E+17 cm-3) of the grown crystal. Such carrier density is low enough to allow depletion region formation in case of pn-junction diodes. In that sense, we have made up for the first time Mg2Si0.53Ge0.47 pn-junction photodiode by thermal diffusion of a thin Ag layer into n-Mg2Si0.53Ge0.47 substrate. The fabricated diode had an obvious rectification behavior and demonstrated a clear zero-biased photoresponse in the wavelength range from 0.95 to 1.85 μm, indicating its prominence for IR sensation in that wavelength domain.