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In this Letter, high-performance vertical NiO/β-Ga2O3 p–n heterojunction diodes without any electric field managements were reported. The devices show a low leakage current density and a high rectification ratio over 1010 (at ±3 V) even operated at temperature of 400 K, indicating their excellent thermal stability and operation capability at high temperature. Given a type-II band alignment of NiO/β-Ga2O3, carrier transport is dominated by the interface recombination at forward bias, while the defect-mediated variable range hopping conduction is identified upon strong reverse electric field. By using the double-layer design of NiO with a reduced hole concentration of 5.1 × 1017 cm−3, the diode demonstrates an improved breakdown voltage (Vb) of 1.86 kV and a specific on-resistance (Ron,sp) of 10.6 mΩ cm2, whose power figure of merit (Vb2/Ron,sp) has reached 0.33 GW/cm2. The high breakdown voltage and low leakage current are outperforming other reported Ga2O3 based p–n heterojunctions and Schottky barrier diodes without field plate and edge termination structures. TCAD simulation indicates that the improved Vb is mainly attributed to the suppression of electric field crowding due to the decreased hole concentration in NiO. Such bipolar heterojunction is expected to be an alternative to increase the breakdown characteristics of β-Ga2O3 power devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We measure the strain of a channel between Si/Ge stressors in a tri-gate p-channel metal–oxide semiconductor device, known as a fin field-effect transistor (FinFET), by utilizing moiré fringes in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). These fringes reveal a pseudomagnified Si lattice, resulting from undersampling of the crystalline lattice with the nodes of the scanning grid of STEM. A practical device sample is prepared using a focused ion-beam instrument. The sample lamella is cut along the X direction to allow observation of the strained channel between Si/Ge stressors. The measurement of channel strain in a FinFET is not easy, since the channel is sandwiched between top and bottom layers of gate electrodes and insulators. For the strain measurement, we use the moiré fringes of the Si[220] lattice. These moiré fringes extract only the targeted lattice and act as a real spatial frequency filter. Other fringes with different directions and/or spacings are thereby filtered out. The strain along the channel between the Si/Ge stressors is measured to be −0.9%, with the whole procedure taking less than 5 min, including data acquisition time, using a dedicated program. As the fringe contrast is weak owing to disturbances by the gate and insulator layers, a microscope is equipped with an aberration corrector in the probe-forming system to enhance the contrast. The proposed method offers a high-throughput strain measurement, since it is performed in the image acquisition mode, and is easily incorporated into the standard workflow for critical dimension measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, all group-IV band-to-band lasers based on SiGeSn/GeSn/SiGeSn multi-quantum-well structures were demonstrated. Lasing performance was investigated via two 4-well samples. The thinner GeSn well sample exhibits a maximum lasing temperature of 20 K and a threshold of 55 kW/cm2 at 10 K, while the thicker well sample features a higher maximum operating temperature of 90 K and lower lasing thresholds of 25 and 62 kW/cm2 at 10 and 77 K, respectively. The distinct results were tentatively interpreted mainly by the difference of gain volume. This result provides guidance for the future GeSn quantum well laser optimization for higher performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computationally efficient modeling of the thermal conductivity of materials is crucial to thorough experimental planning and theoretical understanding of thermal properties. We present a modeling approach in this work that utilizes a frequency-dependent effective medium theory to calculate the lattice thermal conductivity of nanostructured solids. This method accurately predicts a significant reduction in the experimentally measured thermal conductivity of nanostructured Si80Ge20 systems reported in this work, along with previously reported thermal conductivities in nanowires and nano-particles in matrix materials. We use our model to gain insights into the role of long wavelength phonons on the thermal conductivity of nanograined silicon-germanium alloys. Through thermal conductivity accumulation calculations with our modified effective medium model, we show that phonons with wavelengths much greater than the average grain size will not be impacted by grain boundary scattering, counter to the traditionally assumed notion that grain boundaries in solids will act as diffusive interfaces that will limit long wavelength phonon transport. This is further supported by using time-domain thermoreflectance at different pump modulation frequencies to measure the thermal conductivity of a series nanograined silicon-germanium alloys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composition graded nanowires (NWs) have attracted increasing research interest in the application of optoelectronic devices, due to their graded bandgaps caused by the changing composition. However, the thermal transport property of composition graded NWs is not clear, which is critical for their potential applications in electronics and thermoelectrics. In this Letter taking SiGe NW as an example, we explore the thermal transport property of composition graded NWs. Molecular dynamics simulations reveal that the thermal conductivities (κ) of the composition graded SiGe NWs can be reduced up to 57% compared with that of the corresponding SiGe NW with abrupt interfaces. The κ reduction stems from the shortening of phonon mean free paths due to the inhomogeneous composition distributions. The phonon wave packet propagation analysis reveals that the composition gradient can reflect more than 70% of the wave packet energy, and phonon localization is observed in the composition graded region. Our findings suggest a promising prospect of composition graded NWs in the use of thermoelectrics and high temperature coatings, where low thermal conductivity is expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal phonon transport in single-crystalline Si, amorphous SiGe, and poly-SiGe nanostructures was investigated experimentally at room temperature. The characteristic length dependence of thermal conductivity was compared across these three materials by changing the shortest distance between the circular holes of phononic crystals formed in the membranes. The dependences clearly differ for these materials, and these differences can be explained by the thermal phonon mean free path spectra of the three materials. Nanostructuring has a larger impact on thermal conductivity reduction when the characteristic length is comparable to that in the region where the thermal phonon mean free path spectrum is dense. The results suggest that thermal phonon mean free path spectra can be estimated qualitatively by thermal conductivity measurements with characteristic length sweeps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The monolithic integration of photonic functionality into silicon microtechnology is widely advanced. Yet, there is no final solution for the realization of a light source compatible with the prevailing complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technology. A lot of research effort focuses on germanium (Ge) on silicon (Si) heterostructures and tensile strain application to Ge is accepted as one feasible route to make Ge an efficient light emitter. Prior work has documented the special suitability of Ge membranes to reach the high tensile strain. We present a top-down approach for the creation of SiGe stressors on Ge micro-bridges and compare the obtained strain to the case of an attached bulk-like Ge layer. We could show that the Ge influenced by a SiGe stressor is under tensile strain; absolute strain values are of the order of 0.7% for both micro-bridge and bulk. The relative strain induced by the nanostructures in the micro-bridge is 1.3% due to the high sharing of elastic energy between nanostructures and bridges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancement-mode Si/SiGe electron quantum dots have been pursued extensively by many groups for their potential in quantum computing. Most of the reported dot designs utilize multiple metalgate layers and use Si/SiGe heterostructures with Ge concentration close to 30%. Here, we report the fabrication and low-temperature characterization of quantum dots in the Si/Si0.8Ge0.2 heterostructures using only one metal-gate layer. We find that the threshold voltage of a channel narrower than 1 lm increases as the width decreases. The higher threshold can be attributed to the combination of quantum confinement and disorder. We also find that the lower Ge ratio used here leads to a narrower operational gate bias range. The higher threshold combined with the limited gate bias range constrains the device design of lithographic quantum dots. We incorporate such considerations in our device design and demonstrate a quantum dot that can be tuned from a single dot to a double dot. The device uses only a single metal-gate layer, greatly simplifying device design and fabrication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of the chemical composition in Si/Ge-based superlattices on their thermal conductivity has been investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. Simulation cells of Ge/SiGe superlattices have been generated with different concentration profiles such that the Si concentration follows a step-like, a tooth-saw, a Gaussian, and a gamma-type function in direction of the heat flux. The steplike and tooth-saw profiles mimic ideally sharp interfaces, whereas Gaussian and gamma-type profiles are smooth functions imitating atomic diffusion at the interface as obtained experimentally. Symmetry effects have been investigated comparing the symmetric profiles of the step-like and the Gaussian function to the asymmetric profiles of the tooth-saw and the gamma-type function. At longer sample length and similar degree of interdiffusion, the thermal conductivity is found to be lower in asymmetric profiles. Furthermore, it is found that with smooth concentration profiles where atomic diffusion at the interface takes place the thermal conductivity is higher compared to systems with atomically sharp concentration profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A photodiode with 0.55±0.1 A/W responsivity at a wavelength of 1176.9 nm has been fabricated in a 45 nm microelectronics silicon-on-insulator foundry process. The resonant waveguide photodetector exploits carrier generation in silicon-germanium within a microring which is compatible with high-performance electronics. A 3 dB bandwidth of 5 GHz at -4V bias is obtained with a dark current of less than 20 pA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a waveguide-coupled photodetector realized in a standard CMOS foundry without requiring changes to the process flow (zero-change CMOS). The photodetector exploits carrier generation in the silicon-germanium normally utilized as stressor in pFETs. The measured responsivity and 3 dB bandwidth are of 0.023A/W at a wavelength of 1180 nm and 32GHz at 1V bias (18GHz at 0V bias). The dark current is less than 10 pA and the dynamic range is larger than 60 dB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate a reconfigurable quantum dot gate architecture that incorporates two interchangeable transport channels. One channel is used to form quantum dots, and the other is used for charge sensing. The quantum dot transport channel can support either a single or a double quantum dot. We demonstrate few-electron occupation in a single quantum dot and extract charging energies as large as 6.6meV. Magnetospectroscopy is used to measure valley splittings in the range of 35-70 μeV. By energizing two additional gates, we form a few-electron double quantum dot and demonstrate tunable tunnel coupling at the (1,0) to (0,1) interdot charge transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The non-equilibrium Green's function algorithm requires contact self-energies to model charge injection and extraction. All existing approaches assume infinitely periodic leads attached to a possibly quite complex device. This contradicts today's realistic devices in which contacts are spatially inhomogeneous, chemically disordered, and impacting the overall device characteristics. This work extends the complex absorbing potentials method for arbitrary, ideal, or non-ideal leads in atomistic tight binding representation. The algorithm is demonstrated on a Si nanowire with periodic leads, a graphene nanoribbon with trumpet shape leads, and devices with leads of randomly alloyed Si0.5Ge0.5. It is found that alloy randomness in the leads can reduce the predicted ON-state current of Si0.5Ge0.5 transistors by 45% compared to conventional lead methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study undertook strain analysis on fin-shaped field effect transistor structures with epitaxial Si1-xGex stressors, using nano-beam electron diffraction and finite elements method. Combining the two methods disclosed dynamic strain distribution in the source/drain and channel region of the fin structure, and the effects of dimensional factors such as the stressor thickness and fin width, offering valuable information for device design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strain balanced silicon-silicon germanium type-II superlattice p-i-n photodetectors grown on a silicon germanium relaxed buffer layer are shown to exhibit an absorption band that extends beyond 0.7 eV (λ = 1.77 μm) with dark current densities of 27 μA cm-2. Simulations of the absorption edge, which are based on x-ray diffraction characterization, low observed dark current densities, and low dislocation densities, are consistent with fully strained heterostructures. Potential applications for devices made from this heterostructure design could include integrated silicon detectors, or low-noise absorption regions for infrared-extended silicon based avalanche photodiodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We measure the in-plane thermal conductance of mesoporous Ge and SiGe thin films using the Raman-shift method and, based on a finite differences simulation accounting for the geometry of the sample, extract the in-plane thermal conductivity. For a suspended thin film of laser-sintered SiGe nanoparticles doped with phosphorus, we find an effective in-plane thermal conductivity of 0.05W/mK in vacuum for a temperature difference of 400K and a mean temperature of 500 K. Under similar conditions, the effective in-plane thermal conductivity of a laser-sintered undoped Ge nanoparticle film is 0.5W/mK. Accounting for a porosity of approximately 50%, the normalized thermal conductivities are 0.1W/mK and 1W/m K, respectively. The thermoelectric performance is discussed, considering that the electrical in-plane conductivity is also affected by the mesoporosity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SiGe epitaxial layers are integrated as an active part in thermal detectors. To improve their performance, deeper understanding of design parameters, such as thickness, well periodicity, quality, and strain amount, of the layers/interfaces is required. Oxygen (2-2500 × 10-9 Torr) was exposed prior or during epitaxy of SiGe/Si multilayers. In this range, samples with 10 nTorr oxygen were processed to investigate layer quality and noise measurements. Temperature coefficient of resistance was also measured to evaluate the thermal response. These results demonstrate sensitivity of SiGe-based devices to size and location of defects in the structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have investigated the microstructure and device characteristics of GaAs0.82P0.18 solar cells grown on Si0.20Ge0.80/Si graded buffers. Anti-phase domains (APDs) were largely self-annihilated within the In0.39Ga0.61P initiation layer although a low density of APDs was found to propagate to the surface. A combination of techniques was used to show that the GaAs0.82P0.18 cells have a threading dislocation density of 1.2 ± 0.2 × 107 cm-2. Despite these extended defects, the devices exhibited high open-circuit voltages of 1.10-1.12 V. These results indicate that cascading a GaAs0.82P0.18 top cell with a lower-bandgap Si0.20Ge0.80 cell is a promising approach for high-efficiency dual-junction devices on low-cost Si substrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An approach to transfer a high-quality SiGe layer for the fabrication of SiGe-on-insulator wafers has been proposed based on the investigation of crack formation in H-implanted Si0.75Ge0.25/B-doped Si0.70Ge0.30/Si structures. The crack formation is found to be closely correlated to the concentration of B atoms doped in the buried Si0.70Ge0.30 layer. For H-implanted Si0.75Ge0.25/Si0.70Ge0.30/Si structures without B doping, no platelets or cracking is observed in the Si0.70Ge0.30 layer. Upon increasing the concentration of B doping in the buried Si0.70Ge0.30 layer to 2 × 1019/cm3, cracking occurs at the interfaces on both sides of Si0.70Ge0.30 interlayer, thus, resulting in the formation of continuous sharp crack confined in the ultrathin Si0.70Ge0.30 interlayer. With B doped ultrathin Si0.70Ge0.30 interlayer, the Si0.75Ge0.25 layer can be transferred to fabricate SiGe-on-insulator by H implantation with a fluence as low as 3 × 1016/cm2, which is only half of the typical fluence required for a conventional ion-cut process. Since cracking is confined in the ultrathin Si0.70Ge0.30 interlayer, the as-cut SiGe-on-insulator possesses a rather smooth surface with a roughness of 1.55 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied the plastic deformation of an ultrathin silicon-on-insulator with epitaxial Si1-xGex by transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and finite-element method. We analyzed a top Si layer of 10 nm (testing also a 2 nm layer) with epitaxial Si0.64Ge0.36 stressors of 50 and 100 nm. SiGe plastically deforms the top Si layer, and this strain remains even when Si1-xGex is removed. For low dislocation densities, dislocations are gettered close to the Si/SiO2 interface, while the SiGe/Si interface is coherent. Beyond a threshold dislocation density, interactions between dislocations force additional dislocations to position at the Si1-xGex/Si interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the electro-refractive effect in Ge/SiGe multiple quantum wells grown by low energy plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The electro-refractive effect was experimentally characterized by the shift of Fabry-Perot fringes in the transmission spectra of a 64 μm long slab waveguide. A refractive index variation up to 1.3 × 10-3 was measured with an applied electric field of 88 kV/cm at 1475 nm, 50 meV below the excitonic resonance, with a VπLπ figure of merit of 0.46 V cm. The device performances are promising for the realization of Mach Zehnder modulators in the Ge-Si material platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a silicon-based triple junction solar cell that requires a deposition time of less than 15 min for all photoactive layers. As a low-bandgap material, we used thin layers of hydrogenated amorphous silicon germanium with lower band gap than commonly used, which is possible due to the application of hot wire chemical vapor deposition. The triple junction cell shows an initial energy conversion efficiency exceeding 10%, and with a relative performance stability within 6%, the cell shows a high tolerance to light-induced degradation. With these results, we help to demonstrate that hot wire chemical vapor deposition is a viable deposition method for the fabrication of low-cost solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the properties of dielectric traps induced by SiGe source/drain (SiGe S/D) induced-compressive stress in high-k/metal gate (HK/MG) p-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors are demonstrated using random telegraph noise (RTN) and 1/f noise analysis. The correlation between RTN and the 1/f noise parameters is presented. Compared with the control devices, the SiGe S/D HK/MG devices show trap positions that are closer to the SiO2 interfacial layer/Si channel, corresponding to a reduced average tunneling attenuation length (λ), and dominate the lower 1/f noise power spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the coherent phase manipulation of quantum dot excitons by electric means. For our experiments, we use a low capacitance single quantum dot photodiode which is electrically controlled by a custom designed SiGe:C BiCMOS chip. The phase manipulation is performed and quantified in a Ramsey experiment, where ultrafast transient detuning of the exciton energy is performed synchronous to double pulse π/2 ps laser excitation. We are able to demonstrate electrically controlled phase manipulations with magnitudes up to 3π within 100 ps which is below the dephasing time of the quantum dot exciton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pre-strained fin-patterned Si/SiGe multilayer structures for sub-7 nm stacked gate-all-around Si-technology transistors that have been grown onto bulk-Si, virtually relaxed SiGe, strained Silicon-On-Insulator, and compressive SiGe-On-Insulator were investigated. From strain maps with a nanometer spatial resolution obtained by transmission electron microscopy, we developed 3D quantitative numerical models describing the mechanics of the structures. While elastic interactions describe every other system reported here, the patterning on the compressive SiGe-On-Insulator substrate that is fabricated by Ge-condensation results in relaxation along the semiconductor/insulator interface, revealing a latent plasticity mechanism. As a consequence, Si layers with a uniaxial stress of 1.4 GPa are obtained, bringing fresh perspectives for strain engineering in advanced devices. These findings could be extended to other semiconductor technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]