Growth and Properties of Novel Epitaxial Semiconductor Films

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Semiconductor materials are an essential part of many modern technologies. Silicon is used to make integrated circuits for information processing. Compound semiconductors are used in semiconductor lasers and for high speed optical and wireless communications. Gallium nitride, a relatively new semiconductor material, has enabled a new lighting technology based on light emitting diodes (LED) that uses only a fraction of the power of the incandescent lights that it replaces. LED lights have achieved mass market success in a remarkably short period of time. Even more revolutionary, solar cells based on silicon photovoltaic devices have achieved cost parity with fossil fuels for power generation in a growing number of regions. There is no sign that this impressive growth in the impact of semiconductor technology is slowing. For example in the last 10 or so years researchers have discovered a variety of new quantum phenomena in which semiconductor materials are central. A worldwide race is underway to build a new type of computer known as a quantum computer and to apply quantum technology to communications and sensing. These new quantum technologies are likely to be implemented using semiconductor materials. ***In parallel with the growth in semiconductor technology described above, there has been a steady expansion in the number of different semiconductors used in commercial products, selected because of their properties for particular applications. In most devices the semiconductor material needs to be in the form of a thin crystalline layer, or film, on a single crystal substrate wafer. The goal of this research program is to explore a promising class of semiconductor materials that up to now has been neglected, whose potential for useful applications is not known. We will grow these materials in the form of crystalline films by molecular beam epitaxy and measure their optical and electrical properties. The semiconductors of interest belong to the II3-V2 family of which Mg3N2 and Zn3N2 are examples. Unlike most conventional compound semiconductors this family of semiconductors includes materials made up of inexpensive and non-toxic elements that are ecologically friendly. Semiconductors in the II3-V2 class have potential applications in flexible electronics, energy harvesting from room lights, silicon solar panels with enhanced efficiency and in future quantum devices. This research program will train students in the area of semiconductor technology. People who understand semiconductor materials and devices are needed to help Canada succeed in the world-wide effort to develop new commercial optical and electronic technologies. ***Our lab at the University of Victoria has an international profile as a leading group in the area of compound semiconductor growth using molecular beam epitaxy. ***********