SusChEM: Sustainable III-V Alloys Using Non-Toxic Bismuth as an Alternative to HgCdTe

非技术描述：该SusChEM项目使用无毒铋作为组份，以扩大和提高III-V半导体合金的性能，以取代HgCdTe合金。这项工作推进了可持续III-V双体的材料科学知识库，使之能够满足当前和未来工程重大挑战所需的新型设备，例如用于国土安全和污染检测的中长红外激光和探测器，以及用于信息和通信技术的高效红外激光和探测器。与HgCdTe合金相比，III-V双金属化合物可持续、更安全、更安全，不含有毒元素汞和非常稀有的元素碲。该项目将创新和基础材料研究与教育融为一体，并将具有广泛专业知识领域的研究人员和学生聚集在一起，研究与铋合金化的窄禁带III-V半导体。这些研究成果指导了宽禁带范围内III-V铋超晶格材料和器件的设计和工程，并可能使开发性能优异的器件成为可能。技术说明：本研究项目旨在开发技术上重要的8-12微米大气传输窗口中的V族亚晶格中含砷的铋合金。具体地说，半金属化合物InBi与传统的III-V块体和超晶格材料合金化，产生具有显著和高度可开发的电学和光学性能的合金，其性能优于并取代HgCdTe。特别是，InAs/InAsBi和GaSb/InAsBi超晶格在GaSb晶格常数下应变平衡和晶格匹配，为合金化具有重要技术意义的0.61 nm半导体提供了前景：半导化InAsBi(铋摩尔分数为7.3%)和半金属InAsBi(铋摩尔分数为7.3%)。这些系统允许在容易获得的GaSb晶格常数中生长任意厚的、相干的应变层，而不会有失配位错。此外，异质结构提供了设计能带结构的拓扑学的机会，从而允许使用超晶格的有效带隙作为调谐参数来研究表面态的量子相变。

Non-technical Description: This SusChEM project utilizes nontoxic bismuth as a constituent to broaden and enhance the performance of III-V semiconductor alloys for a replacement of HgCdTe alloys. This work advances the materials science knowledge base of sustainable III-V bismides to enable novel devices needed for present and future engineering grand challenges, such as mid- and long-infrared lasers and detectors for homeland security and pollution detection and efficient infrared lasers and detectors for information and communication technology. Compared to HgCdTe alloys, III-V bismides are sustainable, safer, and more secure without toxic element mercury and the very rare element tellurium. This project integrates innovative and fundamental materials research and education, and brings together researchers and students with broad areas of expertise to study narrow bandgap III-V semiconductors alloyed with bismuth. The research findings guide the design and engineering of III-V bismuth superlattice materials and devices over a wide range of narrow bandgap energies, and could enable the development of devices with exceptional performance.Technical Description: This research project alloys bismuth with arsenic in the group-V sublattice to develop III-V materials in the technological important 8-12 micrometer atmospheric transmission window. Specifically, the semi-metallic compound InBi is alloyed with conventional III-V bulk and superlattice materials to create alloys with significant and highly exploitable electrical and optical properties that outperform and replace HgCdTe. In particular, InAs/InAsBi and GaSb/InAsBi superlattices strain balanced and lattice matched at the GaSb lattice constant, offer the prospect of alloying technologically important 0.61-nm semiconductors with semiconducting InAsBi (Bi mole fractions 7.3%) and semimetallic InAsBi (Bi mole fractions 7.3%). These systems allow the growth of arbitrarily thick, coherently strained layers in the readily accessible GaSb lattice constant without misfit dislocations. Furthermore, the heterostructures offer an opportunity to design the topography of the band structure and thus allow studying quantum phase transitions of surface states using the effective bandgap of the superlattice as a tuning parameter.