Materials World Network: III-V Bismide Materials for IR and Mid IR Semiconductors

III-V族化合物半导体材料对于许多现代材料应用的发展，特别是光电和电子器件的发展越来越重要。这些包括用于激光二极管、发光二极管（LED）、光电二极管和光电探测器、雪崩光电二极管、太赫兹发射器和探测器、异质结双极晶体管和自旋电子器件的材料。多年来，已经研究了来自III-V族系统的几种元素来改进这些材料系统，以便持续地向上级器件发展，并开发用于高级器件应用的新材料性质。开发新材料，提高设备的运行效率，降低能耗，显得尤为重要和及时。例如，GaN合金作为LED（例如固态照明）和高温/高功率电子器件的新型半导体材料的意外成功激发了对其他先前被忽视的半导体合金是否为不同应用提供类似机会的研究。一个相对未开发的半导体材料家族的例子是最重的自然存在的V族元素铋的合金。铋是元素周期表中最重的非放射性元素，对于重元素来说，它是无毒且相对便宜的，这意味着它已经以元素形式应用于消防安全系统（由于其熔点低）和热电偶。此外，由于自旋轨道分裂随原子序数超线性地增加，与常规半导体合金相比，Bi合金具有非常大的自旋轨道分裂，因此为基于电子自旋的新型电子器件提供了有趣的机会。因此，III-V族二酰亚胺在材料研究领域提供了许多新的前景，并为开发创新材料以扩展科学和技术提供了机会。III-V族双酰亚胺材料提供的一些战略属性是：i）在GaAs衬底上覆盖高达3 μ m的近红外（IR）波长和在GaSb衬底上覆盖超过2 μ m的所有波长的潜力，ii）独特的大自旋轨道分裂，其为半导体自旋电子器件提供了机会，iii）通常大于带隙能量的自旋轨道带偏移，这提供了开发具有显著降低的俄歇复合的活性材料的机会，iv）带隙能量的小温度依赖性，其为发射器和检测器提供改进的温度稳定性，以及v）带偏移工程的机会，其为基于GaSb的中IR二极管激光器中的空穴限制提供实质性改进。为了进一步开发和发展这些不同的可能性，一个国际团队的理论家和实验专家在材料和设备的建议。预计该团队将迅速推进III-V族双酰亚胺材料和光电应用器件领域的科学，技术和教育，其潜力非常大。

III-V compound semiconductor materials are increasingly important for the development of many modern materials applications and in particular optoelectronic and electronic devices. These include materials for laser diodes, light emitting diodes (LEDs), photovoltaics & photodetectors, avalanche photodiodes, THz emitters & detectors, heterojunction bipolar transistors, and spintronic devices. Over the years several elements from the III-V system have been investigated to advance these material systems in order to persistently progress towards superior devices and to exploit novel material properties for advanced device applications. It is particularly important and timely to develop new materials which improve the operating efficiency of devices and reduce energy consumption. For example, the unexpected runaway success of GaN alloys as a new class of semiconductor materials for LEDs (e.g. in solid-state lighting) and high temperature/high power electronics has inspired research into whether other previously overlooked semiconductor alloys offer similar opportunities for different applications. An example of a relatively unexplored family of semiconductor materials is the alloys of the heaviest naturally occurring group V element, bismuth. Bismuth is the heaviest non-radioactive element in the periodic table, and unusually for the heavy elements, it is non-toxic and relatively inexpensive, meaning it has found application in elemental form in fire-safety systems (due to its low melting point) and thermocouples. Furthermore, since spin orbit splitting increases super linearly with atomic number, Bi-alloys have a very large spin orbit splitting compared with conventional semiconductor alloys, and thus presents interesting opportunities for new types of electronic devices based on electron spin. Consequently III-V bismides offer many new prospects in the area of materials research and the opportunity to develop an innovative class of materials for the expansion of science and technology. Some of the strategic attributes offered by III-V bismide materials are: i) the potential to cover near infrared (IR) wavelengths up to 3 um on GaAs substrates and all wavelengths beyond 2 um on GaSb substrates, ii) a uniquely large spin orbit splitting which provides an opportunity for semiconductor spintronic devices, iii) a spin orbit band offset that is typically larger than bandgap energy which provides an opportunity to develop active materials with significantly reduced Auger recombination, iv) a small temperature dependence of the band gap energy that offers improved temperature stability for emitters and detectors, and v) the opportunity for band offset engineering that offers substantial improvement for hole confinement in GaSb based mid IR diode lasers. To further exploit and develop these various possibilities, an international team of theorists and experimentalists with expertise in materials and devices is proposed. This team is expected to rapidly advance science, technology, and education in the area of III-V bismide materials and devices for optoelectronic applications, the potential for which is very large.