SusChEM: Sustainable III-V Alloys Using Non-Toxic Bismuth as an Alternative to HgCdTe

非技术描述：该SusChEM项目利用无毒的铋作为成分，以拓宽和增强III-V族半导体合金的性能，以替代HgCdTe合金。这项工作推进了可持续III-V族二硫化物的材料科学知识基础，以实现当前和未来工程重大挑战所需的新型器件，例如用于国土安全和污染检测的中红外和长红外激光器和探测器以及用于信息和通信技术的高效红外激光器和探测器。与HgCdTe合金相比，III-V族铋化物更可持续，更安全，更安全，不含有毒元素汞和非常稀有的元素碲。该项目整合了创新和基础材料的研究和教育，并汇集了具有广泛专业知识的研究人员和学生，以研究铋合金的窄带隙III-V半导体。该研究成果将指导III-V族铋超晶格材料和器件的设计和工程化，使器件具有优异的性能。技术描述：本研究项目将铋与砷在V族亚晶格中形成合金，以开发技术上重要的8-12微米大气传输窗口中的III-V族材料。具体而言，半金属化合物InBi与常规III-V块体和超晶格材料形成合金，以产生具有显著且高度可利用的电学和光学特性的合金，其性能优于并取代HgCdTe。特别是，InAs/InAsBi和GaSb/InAsBi超晶格应变平衡和晶格匹配的GaSb晶格常数，提供合金化技术重要的0.61纳米半导体与半导体InAsBi（Bi摩尔分数7.3%）和半金属InAsBi（Bi摩尔分数7.3%）的前景。这些系统允许任意厚的生长，相干应变层在容易获得的GaSb晶格常数没有失配位错。此外，异质结构提供了一个机会来设计的能带结构的拓扑结构，从而允许使用的有效带隙的超晶格作为调谐参数的表面态的量子相变的研究。

Non-technical Description: This SusChEM project utilizes nontoxic bismuth as a constituent to broaden and enhance the performance of III-V semiconductor alloys for a replacement of HgCdTe alloys. This work advances the materials science knowledge base of sustainable III-V bismides to enable novel devices needed for present and future engineering grand challenges, such as mid- and long-infrared lasers and detectors for homeland security and pollution detection and efficient infrared lasers and detectors for information and communication technology. Compared to HgCdTe alloys, III-V bismides are sustainable, safer, and more secure without toxic element mercury and the very rare element tellurium. This project integrates innovative and fundamental materials research and education, and brings together researchers and students with broad areas of expertise to study narrow bandgap III-V semiconductors alloyed with bismuth. The research findings guide the design and engineering of III-V bismuth superlattice materials and devices over a wide range of narrow bandgap energies, and could enable the development of devices with exceptional performance.Technical Description: This research project alloys bismuth with arsenic in the group-V sublattice to develop III-V materials in the technological important 8-12 micrometer atmospheric transmission window. Specifically, the semi-metallic compound InBi is alloyed with conventional III-V bulk and superlattice materials to create alloys with significant and highly exploitable electrical and optical properties that outperform and replace HgCdTe. In particular, InAs/InAsBi and GaSb/InAsBi superlattices strain balanced and lattice matched at the GaSb lattice constant, offer the prospect of alloying technologically important 0.61-nm semiconductors with semiconducting InAsBi (Bi mole fractions 7.3%) and semimetallic InAsBi (Bi mole fractions 7.3%). These systems allow the growth of arbitrarily thick, coherently strained layers in the readily accessible GaSb lattice constant without misfit dislocations. Furthermore, the heterostructures offer an opportunity to design the topography of the band structure and thus allow studying quantum phase transitions of surface states using the effective bandgap of the superlattice as a tuning parameter.