Abstract
Semiconducting magnesium silicide, Mg2Si, is attracting attentions as a novel environment-friendly
semiconductor applicable for the high-sensitive and fast-response short wavelength infrared (SWIR) detector,
because its indirect energy gap of 0.61 eV corresponds to the cutoff wavelength approximately
2 μm. The abundant constituent elements of Mg2Si are suitable for mass consumption. Bulk single crystal
growth and substrate preparation of Mg2Si, and development of Mg2Si pn-junction photodiode (PD)
are reviewed in this paper. The good photoresponse of Mg2Si -PDs below 2.1 μm confirms the potential
of Mg2Si as an environment-friendly SWIR photodetector.
