Nanowire Specialty Diodes for Integrated Applications

本研究的目的是探索由气-液-固法生长的垂直硅和锗纳米线制成的可单独寻址的高密度专用二极管阵列(p/n结、肖特基、齐纳、金属-半导体-金属和隧道结构)。它将研究二极管的性能和设计与纳米线特性的交互作用，同时解决工艺挑战。这种二极管阵列的应用范围从用于交叉点存储器的精选设备到光学传感和能量清除。该方法是基于自下而上制备垂直于原位掺杂生长的Si、Ge和Si/Ge异质结构纳米线。它将洛斯阿拉莫斯国家集成纳米技术实验室中心开发的种子和生长能力与亚利桑那州立大学的晶片处理和器件建模、设计和测试专业知识结合在一起。这项工作的智力优势在于了解生长过程、由此产生的物理结和二极管的电气行为之间的相互作用。对这些纳米线二极管的输运特性的建模将与诸如电流、电压特性等实验结果进行比较。这项研究的更广泛的影响在于它的教育组成部分和对电子行业的潜在价值。这名学生有机会与洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室集成纳米技术中心的研究人员合作，这一机会尤其宝贵。由于这项研究的目的是使纳米线器件能够早日引入主流的CMOS技术，这对一个对我们的国家竞争力和整个社会都很重要的行业可能会产生很大的影响。

The objective of this research is to explore individually addressable high density arrays of specialty diodes (p/n junction, Schottky, Zener, metal-semiconductor-metal and tunnel structures) made from vertical silicon and germanium nanowires grown with the vapor-liquid-solid method. It will study the diode performance and design interaction with the nanowire characteristics while addressing processing challenges. Arrays of such diodes have applications ranging from select devices for crosspoint memories to optical sensing and energy scavenging. The approach is based on bottom-up fabrication of vertical Si, Ge, and Si/Ge heterostructure nanowires grown with in-situ doping. It combines the seed and growth capabilities developed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies with the wafer processing and device modeling, design, and testing expertise at Arizona State University.The intellectual merits of this work lie in understanding the interactions between the growth process, the resulting physical junction, and the electrical behavior of the diode. Modeling of the transport characteristics of these nanowire diodes will be compared to experimental results such as the current voltage characteristics. The broader impacts of this research lie in its educational component and the potential value to the electronics industry. The opportunity for the student to work with researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies is especially valuable. Since the research is aimed at enabling the early introduction of nanowire devices into mainstream CMOS technology, there is a potentially large impact on an industry which is important to our national competitiveness and to society in general.