Oxidation of Aluminum-free Compound Semiconductors for Electronic and Optoelectronic Devices

eccs -0925919电子和光电子器件的无铝化合物半导体氧化随着社会对节能信息技术设备和节能环保制造工艺的需求变得非常敏感，重要的通信技术部门也没有受到影响。无线手机和光通信制造商在不断提高系统性能和成本的同时，也在寻找采用更环保制造实践的方法。所有这些通信技术的基础是电子和光电子器件以及制造它们的化合物半导体材料。本研究的目标是通过利用新发现的氧增强湿式热氧化工艺，在GaAs和InGaAs上生长高质量的绝缘氧化层，为无线和光通信系统开发改进和更高性能的组件，其中许多器件都是由GaAs和InGaAs制成的。这项工作的智力价值在于进一步探索这些氧化物并将其应用于现实世界的设备。将研究这种氧化物的最佳生长条件，重点是提高可再生均匀性和降低界面缺陷密度。砷化镓氧化物将被用作砷化镓集成电路的场氧化物，以改善单个器件之间的电流隔离，而不是电流隔离方法。InGaAs原生氧化物将应用于光纤通信系统中普遍存在的InGaAs p-i-n光电二极管，并研究其降低表面状态和相关暗电流的潜力，这两者都会显著降低器件性能。这项研究具有潜在的变革性，因为它有望实现强大有用的新型绝缘和钝化介电材料，这些材料能够影响广泛的电子和光电子设备，同时又非常简单，对环境的影响非常小，与绿色制造运动兼容。这项工作的广泛影响将体现在无线和光纤通信系统技术性能的预期改进上，这些改进将伴随着组件制造和/或最终集成系统成本的显著降低。无线手机中使用的GaAs集成电路的改进可以通过减少晶体管器件之间的漏电流来降低功耗，从而延长电池寿命。光电二极管灵敏度的提高将使低成本光纤通信系统能够在服务不足的地区增加宽带光通信的采用。使光纤更接近家庭、学校和医疗办公室将加速带宽密集型应用的开发和采用，如数字视频、视频会议和跨多个平台（从计算机和电视到无线基站到移动手机）的互联网通信。次要影响包括通过进一步发展III-V化合物半导体氧化技术，以及其他可能的应用，如改进的光伏设备，推进发现和理解。

Award abstract for proposal ECCS-0925919Oxidation of Aluminum-free Compound Semiconductors for Electronic and Optoelectronic DevicesAs society has become very sensitive to the need for both energy-efficient information technology devices and energy-efficient and environmentally aware manufacturing processes the important communications technology sector is not unaffected. Wireless handset and optical communications manufacturers look for ways to adopt greener manufacturing practices while also continuing to improve the performance and cost of their systems. Fundamental to all of these communications technologies are the electronic and optoelectronic devices and the compound semiconductor materials from which they are made. The goal of this research is to develop improved and higher performance components for both wireless and optical communication systems by utilizing a newly discovered oxygen-enhanced wet thermal oxidation process for growing high quality insulating oxide layers on the GaAs and InGaAs from which many of these devices are made. The Intellectual Merit of this effort lies in the further exploration and application of these oxides to real world devices. The optimum conditions or growth of such oxides will be investigated, with a focus on improving reproducible uniformity and reducing interface defect density. GaAs oxides will be explored for use as a field oxide for GaAs integrated circuits to improve current isolation between individual devices over current isolation methods. InGaAs native oxides will be applied to InGaAs p-i-n photodiodes, which are ubiquitous in optical fiber communication systems, and studied for their potential to reduce surface states and associated dark current, both of which significantly reduce device performance. The research is potentially transformative by nature of its promise for realizing powerfully useful new insulating and passivating dielectric materials capable of impacting a wide range of electronic and optoelectronic devices while at the same time being elegantly simple and, with very low environmental impact, compatible with the green manufacturing movement. The Broader Impact of this work will be found in the expected improvements in the technical performance of both wireless and optical fiber communications systems, improvements that will come with significant reductions in component manufacturing and/or final integrated system cost. Improvements in GaAs integrated circuits used in wireless handsets may reduce power consumption by reducing leakage currents between transistor devices, enabling longer battery life. Improvements in the sensitivity of photodiodes will enable lower cost fiber communication systems to increase the adoption of broadband optical communications in underserved areas. Bringing fiber closer to the home, schools and medical offices will accelerate the development and adoption of bandwidth-intensive applications such as digital video, video conferencing, and internet communications across multiple platforms (from computers and televisions to wireless base stations to mobile handsets). Secondary impacts include advancing discovery and understanding through the further development of III-V compound semiconductor oxidation technology, with other possible applications such as improved photovoltaic devices.