Studies of Silicon Nanocrystals
Abstract
Quantum mechanical devices utilize the wave nature of electrons for their operations whenever the electron mean-free-path exceeds the appropriate dimensions of the device structure. Some of the issues such as the tunneling time, the reduction of the dielectric constant and the drastic increase in the binding energy of dopants were studied. In the past several years, certain schemes appeared which may facilitate the realization of silicon quantum devices, such as the resonant tunneling via nanoscale silicon particles imbedded in an oxide matrix, and the superlattice barrier for silicon consisting of several period of Si/O. Epitaxially grown silicon beyond the superlattice barrier region, consisting of Si/adsorbed oxygen is free of stacking fault defects, and thus is potentially important for silicon based quantum devices. We have succeeded in fabricating an electroluminescent diode, which was life-tested for more than eight months without degradation. We have built a Si/O barrier structure with epitaxial silicon on top of the barrier as possible replacements for SOI (silicon on insulator). which should promote the effort in high speed and low power MOSFET devices. Our success may have opened the door for an electronic and photonic chip of the future ICs.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 28, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA358505
Entities
People
- Raphael Tsu
Organizations
- University of North Carolina at Charlotte