National Science Council of Taiwan [NSC 100-2112-M-011-001-MY3, NSC 100-2221-E-131-005-MY2]; National Basic Research Program of China [2012CB933503]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [61036003, 61176092] ; A Ge/Si0.16Ge0.84 multiple quantum well (MQW) structure grown on a Ge-on-Si virtual substrate (Ge-VS) was characterized by using temperature dependent piezoreflectance (PzR) technique. Signals from every relevant portion of the sample, including Ge-VS, MQW and barriers were observed. The band gap blue-shifted and valence band splitting in the vicinity of the direct band-edge transitions of Ge revealed that the Ge-VS is compressively strained. A comprehensive analysis of the PzR spectra led to the identification of various quantum-confined interband transitions. In addition, the parameters that describe the temperature dependence of the excitonic transition energies were evaluated and found to be similar to that of the bulk Ge. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.