High resolution X-ray Diffractometer for MBE-grown novel quantum device research

目前正在展开的技术革命带来了个人电脑、高速互联网、数码相机和平板显示器，仅提及商品部门，其根源可以直接追溯到非常薄的人造材料薄膜的工程进展及其随后的加工成具有良好控制功能的更小设备。 最高性能的电子器件，例如用于PC、智能手机或卫星的晶体管，以及光子器件，例如半导体激光器、放大器和检测器，它们以令人难以置信的速率沿万维网的光纤沿着推动数字信息，都是基于半导体材料的高度完美的晶体多层，这些晶体多层在所谓的外延工艺中沉积在适当选择的晶体衬底上。这些器件的性能关键取决于各个子层的确切厚度和成分，有些只有几纳米厚。 能够实现这种精度的外延技术的开发、相关校准和持续的工艺监测都需要能够常规使用的非破坏性并满足分辨率和精度的严格要求的计量工具。对于依赖于外延结构的半导体工业和研发，只有一种这样的工具-高分辨率X射线衍射仪（HR-XRD），这是本赠款申请的主题。该工具对于由分子束外延（MBE）实验室托管和支持的研究计划的成功至关重要，该实验室目前正在滑铁卢大学新的量子纳米中心建立，预计将于2013年第二季度全面投入使用。 该实验室的重点将是基于（In，Al，Ga）（As，Sb）半导体材料的先进量子器件的外延生长，用于光子学，纳米电子学，自旋电子学和量子计算的突破性研究计划，以解决加拿大高科技行业在环境监测，替代清洁能源，健康，安全和ICT方面的短期和长期挑战。

The roots of the currently unfolding technological revolution which brought about personal computers, fast internet, digital cameras and flat panel displays-to mention just the commodity sector-can be traced directly to the advances in engineering of very thin films of artificial materials and their subsequent processing into ever smaller devices with well controlled functionalities. The highest performance electronic devices, such as transistors used in PCs, smartphones or satellites and the photonic devices such as semiconductor lasers, amplifiers and detectors which are pushing digital information with incredible rates along the optical fibers of the world wide web, are all based on highly perfect crystalline multilayers of semiconductor materials which are deposited in the so-called epitaxial process on suitably chosen crystalline substrates. The performance of these devices depends critically on the exact thicknesses and compositions of the individual sub-layers, some just a few nanometers thick. Development of the epitaxial techniques capable of such precision, related calibrations and ongoing process monitoring all require metrology tools which can be used routinely, be non-destructive and meet the strict requirements of resolution and accuracy. For the semiconductor industry and R&D which relies on epitaxial structures there is only one such tool - the High Resolution X-ray Diffractometer (HR-XRD), the subject of the present grant application. This tool is crucial to the success of the research programs hosted in and supported by the Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) laboratory which is being presently set up in the new Quantum Nano Centre at the University of Waterloo and is expected to be fully operational in the second quarter of 2013. The focus of the lab will be on the epitaxial growth of advanced quantum devices based on (In, Al, Ga)(As, Sb) semiconductor materials for ground-breaking research programs in photonics, nanoelectronics, spintronics and quantum computing that address both short and long term challenges of Canadian high-tech sectors in environmental monitoring, alternative clean energy sources, health, security and ICT.