Materials Research Group on Studies of Fundamental Mechanisms of Film Growth Using Chemical Vapor Deposition

这一奖项是为了在威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校建立一个新材料研究小组。该小组的研究主题是研究用化学气相沉积方法生长半导体材料薄膜的基本机制和由此产生的微结构。研究的重点包括：通过对母体气体和气相化学的研究，了解气相与生长薄膜的相互作用，对生长过程中涉及的动力学和热力学机制的定量微观表征，对所得到的薄膜的结构、光学和电子性质的非原位表征，气相化学和薄膜结构的理论分析和计算模拟，从表征和理论到生长化学的反馈，在对生长过程的新理解的基础上设计新的工艺和材料。该集团正在开发一种化学气相沉积系统，该系统能够生长电子设备质量的薄膜，还可以对生长过程进行现场监控。正在研究的初始材料是硅和硅-锗系统/多层膜。研究的后期阶段涉及对III族氮化物的研究，这是一种宽禁带半导体，在集成电子、光学和光电子器件中显示出巨大的应用前景。正在使用的表征技术包括：光反射、光致发光、反射差分光谱、质谱学、反射高能电子衍射、扫描隧道显微镜和低能电子衍射。理论技术包括蒙特卡罗模拟、速率方程计算和统计力学方法。该小组的优势是在调查人员的互补专业知识和可用于这项研究的设施之间取得平衡。如果没有以互动和综合模式开展工作的调查人员的合作，这项研究是不可能的。

This award is to establish a new Materials Research Group at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. The topic of the research of this group is studies the fundamental mechanisms in growth and the resulting microstructure of thin films of semiconducting materials using chemical vapor deposition. The emphases of the research include: understanding of the interaction of the gas phase with the growing thin film through studies of the precursor gases and the gas phase chemistry, quantitative microscopic characterization of the kinetic and thermodynamic mechanisms involved in growth, ex- situ characterization of the structural, optical, and electronic nature of the resulting films, theoretical analysis and computational modeling of the gas phase chemistry and film structure, feedback from characterization and theory to growth chemistry, design of novel processing and materials on the basis of new understanding of the growth process. The group is developing a chemical vapor deposition system capable of growing electronic device-quality films, that also allows in-situ monitoring of the growth process. The initial materials being studied are silicon and silicon-germanium systems/multilayers. The later stages of the research involves studies of group III nitrides, which are wide band-gap semiconductors that show great promise for application in integrated electronic, optical, and optoelectronic devices. Characterization techniques being used include: photoreflectance, photoluminescence, reflection difference spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy, reflection high energy electron diffraction, scanning tunnelling microscopy, and low energy electron diffraction. Theoretical techniques include Monte Carlo simulations, rate equation calculations, and statistical mechanical methods. The strengths of the group are the balance of the complementary expertise of the investigators and the facilities available for this research. This research would not be possible without the collaboration of the investigators working in an interactive and integrated mode.