Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 February 2011
Strong hole intersubband infrared absorption in δ-doped Si multiple quantum wells is observed. The structures consist of 10 periods of boron doped Si quantum wells and undoped Si barriers. Near 100 % infrared absorption is measured by FTIR spectrometer using waveguide structures. Absorption peaks ranging between 3–7 μm are measured, and these peaks can be tuned by varying the doping concentration in the δ-doped layer. Polarization dependence has been verified to agree with the intersubband selection rule. The estimated peak energy positions using a self-consistency calculation are considerably lower than experimental values, probably due to a large exchange energy of many body effects. This observation suggests multiple quantum well IR detectors using Si- technology.