SBIR Phase I: Novel Heterostructure Doping for Optoelectronic Devices

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目致力于开发一种新技术，以提高紫外线(UV)发光设备(LED)的效率。紫外光LED的制造过程通常包括将半导体薄膜沉积到可制造成器件的衬底上。传统上，在沉积过程中，杂质被添加到半导体薄膜中以获得所需的电学性能。然而，杂质的引入会在半导体材料中产生缺陷，从而限制器件的效率。本项目中提出的技术将改变半导体薄膜的沉积过程，以便在不使用故意杂质的情况下获得所需的电学性能。这有可能产生更高效的发光体。提出的技术还有一个额外的优势，即可以生产电学性能对温度不那么敏感的材料，这可以被证明在许多应用中都是有用的。这个项目中研究的半导体材料的组成可以被修改，以生产能够发射从紫外线到可见光范围的光的LED。一个成功的项目将带来开发新型、高效LED的使能技术。该项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力涉及高效发光半导体器件的开发。这项工作中研究的基本物理性质将加强对半导体本质的科学和技术理解。这些进展可能会产生一种新的范例，使半导体材料功能化，以实现更高效、更高性能的光学和电子器件。这一技术进步的可能应用包括普通房间照明、交通灯、户外显示器、汽车应用、水处理、杀菌和超高密度光学存储系统。此外，这项工作中提出的技术可能会导致其他微电子设备如晶体管、激光二极管、调制器和光电探测器的性能的提高。拟议的设备将实现独特的高功率和极端温度操作，因为该方法不面临与当前使用的技术相同的限制。在上述类别中性能优越的设备的基础上，建议的技术存在巨大的商业化潜力。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project addresses the development of a novel technique for improving the efficiency of ultraviolet (UV) light emitting devices (LEDs). The UV LED fabrication process typically includes deposition of thin semiconductor films onto substrates that can be fabricated into devices. Traditionally, during the deposition process impurities are added to the semiconductor films to obtain the desired electrical properties. The introduction of the impurities, however, produces defects in the semiconductor materials that can limit the efficiency of the devices. The technique proposed in this project will modify the deposition process of the semiconductor films in order to obtain the desired electrical properties without the use of intentional impurities. This has the potential of producing much more efficient light emitters. The proposed technique has the added advantage of producing material whose electrical properties are less sensitive to temperature, which can prove useful for many applications. The composition of the semiconductor materials investigated in this project can be modified to produce LEDs capable of emitting light from the ultraviolet to visible range. A successful project will lead to an enabling technology for development of novel, high efficiency LEDs.The broader impacts/commercial potential of this project addresses the development of efficient light emitting semiconductor devices. Fundamental physical properties studied in this effort will enhance scientific and technological understanding of the nature of semiconductors. These advances may yield a new paradigm for functionalizing semiconductor materials for more efficient and higher performance optical and electronic devices. Possible applications for this technological advance include general room lighting, traffic lights, outdoor displays, automotive applications, water treatment, sterilization, and ultrahigh density optical storage systems. Moreover, the technique proposed in this work may lead to improvement in the performance of other microelectronic devices such as transistors, laser diodes, modulators and photodetectors. The proposed devices will enable unique high power and extreme temperature operation as the approach does not face the same limitations as currently used technology. Significant commercialization potential exists for the proposed technology on the basis of superior performing devices in the aforementioned categories.