Advanced optoelectronic devices via defect engineering

通过缺陷工程开发先进光电器件

• 批准号: 156188-2011
• 负责人: Simpson, Peter
• 金额: $ 1.6万
• 依托单位: University of Western Ontario
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=569505
• 关键词: Advanced; optoelectronic; devices; via; defect

Silicon nanoparticles show promise to enable efficient light emitting devices, for a variety of applications including communications, all-optical computing, and illumination. Silicon is a very poor emitter of light, however by creating structures with nanometer-scale dimensions we can foster behaviour not found in the bulk material, including efficient emission of light. I propose research which will advance our ability to make silicon nanoparticles, to integrate them into functioning optoelectronic devices, and to understand the underlying physics. Current trends in technology towards nanoscale devices motivates the development of techniques and instruments to probe matter at the atomic scale. Atomic scale defects can be detrimental to device performance, but can also be exploited in the formation of devices and nanostructures. For example, vacancy-type defects (missing atoms) play an important role in the creation of light-emitting silicon nanoparticles, due to their action as a vehicle for silicon diffusion, which is essential to the process of precipitation that forms the nanoparticles. The proposed research will make use of the newly funded McMaster Intense Positron Beam Facility (MIPBF), which will generate intense beams of positrons, the antimatter counterpart of the electron, at the McMaster Nuclear Reactor. We will develop new techniques to probe defects in materials, to study issues such as (1) Grain boundary diffusion of impurities - solar cells and thin film transistors can be made from polycrystalline silicon - silicon that is made of many small grains. The boundaries between the grains can act as "highways" for the transport of impurities, and this can be detrimental to device performance and longevity. Diffusion of impurities along grain boundaries is a subject of growing importance, and I will develop a further understanding of it using the MIPBF. (2) Profiling of defects in ultrathin layers - the next generation of semiconductor devices like computer chips requires layers of material of the order of 10 nanometres in thickness, and this raises new materials challenges, including how to measure the properties of such thin films. I will develop advanced positron annihilation techniques to study these very small structures.

硅纳米颗粒显示出使高效发光器件成为可能的前景，用于各种应用，包括通信、全光计算和照明。硅是一种非常差的光发射体，然而，通过创建具有纳米尺度尺寸的结构，我们可以促进在大块材料中没有发现的行为，包括有效的光发射。我提出的研究将提高我们制造硅纳米粒子的能力，将它们集成到功能性光电器件中，并了解潜在的物理学。 目前的技术趋势是纳米器件，这促使人们开发技术和仪器来探测原子尺度的物质。 原子级缺陷可能对器件性能有害，但也可以在器件和纳米结构的形成中被利用。 例如，空位型缺陷（缺失的原子）在发光硅纳米颗粒的产生中起着重要作用，因为它们作为硅扩散的载体，这对于形成纳米颗粒的沉淀过程是必不可少的。 拟议的研究将利用新资助的麦克马斯特强正电子束设施（MIPBF），该设施将在麦克马斯特核反应堆产生强正电子束，电子的反物质对应物。 我们将开发新技术来探测材料中的缺陷，研究诸如（1）杂质的晶界扩散-太阳能电池和薄膜晶体管可以由多晶硅制成-硅是由许多小颗粒制成的。 晶粒之间的边界可以充当杂质运输的“高速公路”，这可能对器件性能和寿命有害。 杂质沿着晶界的扩散是一个越来越重要的主题，我将使用MIPBF进一步了解它。(2)分析半导体层中的缺陷-下一代半导体器件（如计算机芯片）需要厚度为10纳米的材料层，这提出了新的材料挑战，包括如何测量这种薄膜的特性。 我将开发先进的正电子湮灭技术来研究这些非常小的结构。