Tailoring the Properties of Dilute Nitride-Bismide Semiconductor Alloys

技术：本项目旨在更好地了解稀氮化二胺半导体合金异质结构的微观结构和性能。该项目是密歇根大学、圣母大学、科克大学和廷德尔研究所(爱尔兰)的研究人员之间的跨学科合作。一个主要的目标是识别和了解合成/加工机制以及操纵这些材料的微结构和由此产生的电子态和光发射效率所需的条件。使用两性(IV组)和替代(VI组)掺杂剂，采用等离子体辅助分子束外延技术合成稀氮化二胺合金薄膜。微结构将使用一种新的方法来定制，以使用预生长聚焦离子束注入来形成种子成分图案。原子到纳米尺度的结构将使用最先进的显微和光谱技术来确定。这些结果将使用一套互补的计算研究来解释，包括密度泛函理论、紧束缚计算和基于有效质量的计算。非技术性：该项目解决与电子和光子学技术相关的材料科学主题领域的基础研究问题。来自该项目的科学见解有望使温度不敏感的光发射器、高效率光伏和高性能晶体管的开发应用于电信、雷达和汽车行业。研究生、本科生和高中生将受益于在跨化学、物理和工程学科的跨学科科学学习环境中共同工作。已建立的合作是一种有利的方法，受益于涵盖理论和实验的研究人员的互补专业知识。创造的新知识将通过出版物和演示文稿广泛传播。外联活动将强调对妇女和任职人数偏低的少数群体的指导。

Technical: This project aims for greater understanding of the microstructure and properties of dilute nitride-bismide semiconductor alloy heterostructures. The project is interdisciplinary and collaborative among investigators at U-Michigan, U-Notre Dame, U-College Cork, and the Tyndall Institute (Ireland). A primary objective is to identify and understand synthesis/processing mechanisms along with conditions needed to manipulate the microstructure and consequent electronic states and optical emission efficiencies of these materials. Dilute nitride-bismide alloy films will be synthesized using plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy, using both amphoteric (group IV) and alternative (group VI) dopants. The microstructure will be tailored using a novel approach to seed compositional patterns using pre-growth focused-ion-beam implantation. The atomic-to-nanometer-scale structure will be determined using state-of-the-art microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. These results will be interpreted using a complementary set of computational studies, including density functional theory, tight-binding calculations, and effective-mass based calculations.Non-technical: The project addresses basic research issues in a topical area of materials science with technological relevance in electronics and photonics. The scientific insights from this project are expected to enable the development of temperature-insensitive light-emitters, high efficiency photovoltaics, and high performance transistors to be used in the telecommunications, radar, and automotive industries. Graduate, undergraduate, and high school students will benefit from working together in an interdisciplinary scientific learning environment across disciplines of chemistry, physics, and engineering. The established collaboration constitutes an advantageous approach, benefitting from the complementary expertise of investigators covering theory and experiment. The new knowledge created will be broadly disseminated through publications and presentations. Outreach activities will emphasize the mentoring of women and underrepresented minorities.