Nanoparticle-Seeding Approach to Buried (Semi) Metal Film Growth

Abstract

We explored an entirely new growth mode for epitaxially-integrating (semi)metallic films with high-quality III-V semiconductors, which could be particularly important to the future of multi-modal sensors, specifically vertically-integrating a diversity of sensing modes onto a single pixel. ErAs and many of the other rare-earth monopnictides (generally denoted as RE-V) are rocksalt semimetals that can be grown epitaxially on zinc-blende III-V substrates, with thermodynamically stable interfaces. However, the rotational symmetry mismatch between the III-V and ErAs results in a high density of planar defects in III-V layers grown on ErAs, akin to the challenges associated with GaAs growth on silicon. To circumvent this limit, we employed a seed layer of buried ErAs nanostructures. ErAs layer growth then proceeds sub-surface, with a GaAs capping layer floating above. The advantage of this technique is that the GaAs capping layer remains registered to the underlying substrate, preventing planar defect formation during subsequent III-V growth.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 20, 2014
Accession Number
ADA603596

Entities

People

  • Seth R. Bank

Organizations

  • University of Texas at Austin

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Bipolar Junction Transistors
  • Conductivity
  • Contracts
  • Degradation
  • Diffraction
  • Electron Diffraction
  • Electron Microscopy
  • Electrons
  • Films
  • Metal Films
  • Nanoparticles
  • Nanostructures
  • Optical Properties
  • Semiconductors
  • Transmission Electron Microscopy

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Quantum Dot Semiconductor Device Photonics and Graphene Optoelectronic Materials and THz Physics.
  • Semiconductor Device Technology
  • Thin Film Deposition Science.

Technology Areas

  • Biotechnology
  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Graphene