Flexible germanium nanomembrane metal-semiconductor-metal photodiodes

We demonstrate flexible Ge nanomembrane (Ge NM) based metal-semiconductor-metal photodiodes. The effect of uniaxial tensile strain on Ge NM based photodiodes was investigated using bending fixtures. Dark current density is decreased from 21.5 to 4.8 mA/cm² at 3 V by a tensile strain of 0.42% while photon responsivity is increased from 0.2 to 0.45 A/W at the wavelength of 1.5 μm. Enhanced responsivity is also observed at longer wavelengths up to 1.64 μm. The uniaxial tensile strain effectively reduces the direct bandgap energy of the Ge NM, leading to a shift of the absorption edge toward a longer wavelength.