Semiconductor Materials for Future Device Applications: Materials Issues and Device Implications

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Semiconductors are the active electronic materials that are present within electron devices. A great deal of progress in electronics has been achieved through an understanding of the basic material properties of the semiconductors used within such devices. The proposed research aims to deepen our understanding of this class of materials and to explore the possible device applications. Specifically, the research to be performed by the researchers within my group will: (1) enrich a simulation tool within which Monte Carlo simulations of the electron transport may be pursued, and (2) use this tool in order to obtain electron transport results corresponding to a number of semiconductors of current interest. The device implications of these results will then be explored. The overall goal of these research endeavors is to advance our understanding of semiconductors, to provide researchers in the field with tools for the analysis of these materials, and to equip emerging areas of the electronics field with engineering methodologies for device design and optimization. The development of novel techniques for the analysis of these materials, and the use of these techniques for the purposes of device optimization, is the common theme underpinning these research endeavors. The semiconductor materials to be examined will include, but are by no means limited to, the III-V nitride semiconductors, gallium nitride, indium nitride, and boron nitride, and the II-VI semiconductor, zinc oxide, and its alloy with magnesium oxide. Other novel semiconductors, such as gallium oxide, will also be considered. Traditional semiconductor materials, such as silicon and gallium arsenide, will be considered, albeit for benchmarking purposes; Si and GaAs are mature materials, and thus, provide a point of reference for our electron transport studies.******The proposed research program offers abundant opportunities for advancements in the basic fundamental science underlying semiconductor materials and in exploring the possible novel device applications that are thereby engendered. The training programs that are being supported through this research program will help supply the Canadian workforce with highly qualified personnel who can work in a variety of research and development capacities. The research that is to be performed, and the graduates who emerge from the group, 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 $1.7 Trillion in sales worldwide (per annum) by the year 2017.**