Mid-IR optical properties of silicon doped InP

InP is one of the most important materials for optoelectronics as a direct bandgap semiconductor, which can also be regarded as a low loss alternative plasmonic material for mid-infrared (mid-IR). The InP films studied in this work were grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). The effect of growth conditions on the optical and electrical properties of silicon doped InP (InP:Si) in the wavelength range from 3 to 40 µm was studied. The carrier concentration of up to 3.9 × 1019 cm−3 is achieved by optimizing the growth conditions. The dielectric function, effective mass of electrons and plasma frequency were determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) for different carrier density levels. The plasma frequency can be tuned effectively via doping from 18.43 to 50.5 THz. Based on the experimental results, a semi-empirical formula for the plasma frequency, as a function of carrier concentration, is derived. Comparison to other semiconductors shows superior plasmonic performance of InP:Si in terms of propagation length and surface confinement.