Semiconductor materials with disorder: Materials issues and device implications

无序半导体材料：材料问题和器件影响

• 批准号: 217340-2012
• 负责人: OLeary, Stephen
• 金额: $ 1.53万
• 依托单位: University of British Columbia
• 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=570142
• 关键词: Semiconductor; materials; disorder; Materials; issues

Semiconductors are the active electronic materials present within electron devices. A great deal of progress in electronics has been achieved through a deep understanding of the material properties of the semiconductors used within such devices. Disorder is known to play an important role in shaping these properties. Amorphous semiconductors exhibit disorder in the underlying distribution of atoms, i.e., the atoms within these materials are not distributed in the ordered and periodic manner of their crystalline counterparts. Semiconductors that are grown as epitaxial films on non-lattice matched substrates, such as gallium nitride grown on sapphire, also exhibit a form of disorder, i.e., threading dislocation lines, which extend from the underlying substrate into the semiconductor material. These various forms of disorder impact upon the material properties of these semiconductors. Consequently, disorder has the potential to alter the performance of the electron devices that are fabricated using such semiconductors. The proposed research program aims to study how disorder impacts upon the material properties of these semiconductors and to explore the resultant device implications. Two types of disordered semiconductors will be considered in this research program: (1) amorphous semiconductors prepared as thin-films, and (2) epitaxial semiconductors prepared on non-lattice matched substrates. The optical response of these thin-film layers will be the primary focus of our explorations related to the amorphous semiconductors we consider, while the epitaxial layer analyses will focus on the occupancy of the threading dislocation lines within such materials. Disorder, in its various forms, and the role that disorder plays in influencing device performance, is the underlying theme underpinning these research endeavors. This research will help nurture the growth and development of the electronics industry here in Canada, an industry that has been estimated by some to have the potential to exceed $ 1 Trillion in sales worldwide (per annum) by the year 2012.

半导体是存在于电子器件中的活性电子材料。通过对这种器件中使用的半导体材料特性的深入了解，电子学已经取得了很大的进步。众所周知，无序在塑造这些特性方面起着重要作用。非晶态半导体在原子的基本分布上表现出无序，即这些材料中的原子不是以其晶体原子的有序和周期性的方式分布的。在非晶格匹配的衬底上生长的半导体，例如生长在蓝宝石上的氮化镓，也表现出一种无序的形式，即从衬底延伸到半导体材料的穿线位错线。这些不同形式的无序影响着这些半导体的材料性质。因此，无序有可能改变使用这种半导体制造的电子器件的性能。 拟议的研究计划旨在研究无序如何影响这些半导体的材料特性，并探索由此产生的器件含义。本研究将考虑两种类型的无序半导体：(1)制备成薄膜的非晶态半导体；(2)在非晶格匹配衬底上制备的外延半导体。这些薄膜的光学响应将是我们与我们所考虑的非晶态半导体相关的探索的主要焦点，而外延层的分析将集中在这些材料中穿线位错线的占据情况。各种形式的无序，以及无序在影响设备性能中所起的作用，是支撑这些研究努力的潜在主题。 这项研究将有助于促进加拿大电子行业的增长和发展，一些人估计，到2012年，该行业的全球销售额(每年)有可能超过1万亿美元。