Photonic Band Gap and Light Routing in Self-Assembled Lattices of Epitaxial Ge-on-Si Microstructures

The emergence of a photonic band gap in Ge-on-Si micropillars ordered in a two-dimensional square lattice is demonstrated by the finite-element method. Candidate architectures are fabricated through epitaxy and the opening of the photonic band gap experimentally proved by photoluminescence spectroscopy. When the direct-gap emission of Ge is resonantly driven into the photonic gap, light propagation in the lattice plane is inhibited. Emission is eventually funneled out of plane, yielding a giant increase, i.e., about one order of magnitude, in the observed intensity. The demonstration of light routing in microcrystals' lattices opens interesting possibilities for Si photonics. The epitaxial self-assembled microstructures introduced here can be monotonically integrated on Si to improve the performances of group-IV lasers or engineered to optimize the working wavelength of future quantum photonic circuits.