Optical analysis of Ge/MgO and Ge/BN thin layers designed for terahertz applications

In this work, a 200 nm Ge thin film is used as a substrate to design Ge/MgO and Ge/BN layers. The optical dynamics in these devices are investigated by means of the reflectivity and the transmissivity measurements. Particularly, the details of the dielectric spectra and the values of the energy band gaps (E-g) are investigated. Below 350 THz, the construction of Ge/MgO and Ge/BN interfaces decreased the effective dielectric constant of Ge by 39% and by 76%, respectively. It also increased the quality factor of the Ge optical device from 150 to 1400 and to 940 at 300 THz. All the dispersive optical parameters are also evaluated. In addition, the direct/indirect E-g value of Ge which was determined as 1.15/0.72 eV is observed to shift down by a 0.13/0.42 and by a 023/0.54 eV for the Ge/MgO and Ge/BN devices, respectively. The sharp increase in the dielectric constant with decreasing frequency in the range of 353 273 THz, the dispersive optical parameters and the energy band gap attenuations of the optical structures are promising as they indicate the applicability of the Ge, Ge/MgO and Gel BN layers in terahertz sensing. The latter technology has a wide range of applications like medical and telecommunication devices. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.