Growth and Properties of Novel Epitaxial Semiconductor Films

半导体材料是许多现代技术的重要组成部分。硅被用来制造信息处理的集成电路。化合物半导体用于半导体激光器以及高速光学和无线通信。氮化镓是一种相对较新的半导体材料，它实现了一种基于发光二极管(LED)的新照明技术，它只使用它所取代的白炽灯的一小部分功率。LED灯在极短的时间内取得了大众市场的成功。更具革命性的是，基于硅光伏设备的太阳能电池在越来越多的地区实现了与化石燃料发电的成本平价。没有迹象表明，半导体技术影响的这种令人印象深刻的增长正在放缓。例如，在过去10年左右的时间里，研究人员发现了各种新的量子现象，其中半导体材料是核心。一场世界性的竞赛正在进行，目的是制造一种被称为量子计算机的新型计算机，并将量子技术应用于通信和传感。这些新的量子技术很可能使用半导体材料来实现。 在上述半导体技术增长的同时，商业产品中使用的不同半导体的数量也在稳步增长，选择这些半导体是因为它们具有特定应用的特性。在大多数器件中，半导体材料需要在单晶衬底晶片上形成薄结晶层或薄膜的形式。这一研究计划的目标是探索一类到目前为止被忽视的有前途的半导体材料，其有用的应用潜力尚不清楚。我们将通过分子束外延生长这些材料的结晶薄膜，并测量它们的光学和电学性质。感兴趣的半导体属于II3-V2家族，例如镁3N 2和锌3N 2。与大多数传统的化合物半导体不同，这一系列半导体包括由廉价、无毒、环保的元素组成的材料。II3-V2类半导体在柔性电子产品、从房间灯中收集能量、提高效率的硅太阳能电池板以及未来的量子设备中具有潜在的应用。这个研究项目将培养半导体技术领域的学生。需要了解半导体材料和器件的人，才能帮助加拿大在开发新的商业光学和电子技术的全球努力中取得成功。 我们在维多利亚大学的实验室在使用分子束外延生长化合物半导体领域具有国际领先地位。

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.