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We present and compare the existing methods of heteroepitaxy of III-Vs on silicon and their trends. We focus on the epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELOG) method as a means of achieving good quality III-Vs on silicon. Initially conducted primarily by near-equilibrium epitaxial methods such as liquid phase epitaxy and hydride vapour phase epitaxy, nowadays ELOG is being carried out even by non-equilibrium methods such as metal organic vapour phase epitaxy. In the ELOG method, the intermediate defective seed and the mask layers still exist between the laterally grown purer III-V layer and silicon. In a modified ELOG method called corrugated epitaxial lateral overgrowth (CELOG) method, it is possible to obtain direct interface between the III-V layer and silicon. In this presentation we exemplify some recent results obtained by these techniques. We assess the potentials of these methods along with the other existing methods for realizing truly monolithic photonic integration on silicon and III-V/Si heterojunction solar cells.

In an attempt to achieve an InP-Si heterointerface, a new and generic method, the corrugated epitaxial lateral overgrowth (CELOG) technique in a hydride vapor phase epitaxy reactor, was studied. An InP seed layer on Si (0 0 1) was patterned into closely spaced etched mesa stripes, revealing the Si surface in between them. The surface with the mesa stripes resembles a corrugated surface. The top and sidewalls of the mesa stripes were then covered by a SiO2 mask after which the line openings on top of the mesa stripes were patterned. Growth of InP was performed on this corrugated surface. It is shown that growth of InP emerges selectively from the openings and not on the exposed silicon surface, but gradually spreads laterally to create a direct interface with the silicon, hence the name CELOG. We study the growth behavior using growth parameters. The lateral growth is bounded by high index boundary planes of {3 3 1} and {2 1 1}. The atomic arrangement of these planes, crystallographic orientation dependent dopant incorporation and gas phase supersaturation are shown to affect the extent of lateral growth. A lateral to vertical growth rate ratio as large as 3.6 is achieved. X-ray diffraction studies confirm substantial crystalline quality improvement of the CELOG InP compared to the InP seed layer. Transmission electron microscopy studies reveal the formation of a direct InP-Si heterointerface by CELOG without threading dislocations. While CELOG is shown to avoid dislocations that could arise due to the large lattice mismatch (8%) between InP and Si, staking faults could be seen in the layer. These are probably created by the surface roughness of the Si surface or SiO2 mask which in turn would have been a consequence of the initial process treatments. The direct InP-Si heterointerface can find applications in high efficiency and cost-effective Si based III-V semiconductor multijunction solar cells and optoelectronics integration., Updated from "Pre-print" to "Article in journal". QC 20150227

Together with the optimal basic design, buried heterostructure quantum cascade laser (BH-QCL) with semi-insulating regrowth offers unique possibility to achieve an effective thermal dissipation and lateral single mode. We demonstrate here for the first time realization of BH-QCLs with a single step regrowth of highly resistive (>1x10(8) ohm.cm) semi-insulating InP:Fe in less than 45 minutes in a flexible hydride vapour phase epitaxy process for burying ridges etched down to 10-15 mu m deep both with and without mask overhang. The fabricated BH-QCLs emitting at similar to 4.7 mu m and similar to 5.5 mu m were characterized. 2 mm long 5.5 mu m lasers with ridge width 17-22 mu m, regrown with mask overhang, exhibited no leakage current. Large width and high doping in the structure did not permit high current density for CW operation. 5 mm long 4.7 mu m BH-QCLs of ridge widths varying from 6-14 mu m regrown without mask overhang, besides being spatially monomode, TM00, exhibited WPE of similar to 8-9% with an output power of 1.5 - 2.5 W at room temperature and under CW operation. Thus, we demonstrate a simple, flexible, quick, stable and single-step regrowth process with extremely good planarization for realizing buried QCLs leading to monomode, high power and high WPE., QC 20141030

BH-QCLs were fabricated with regrowth of semi-insulating InP:Fe in hydride vapor phase epitaxy reactor. Two types of lateral ridge QCL designs were considered: (i) closely spaced ridges with double trenches and (ii) widely and uniformly spaced ridges. The etched depth varies from 6 to 15 μm in the former and 6 to10 μm in the latter. Double trenches of about 14 μm deep take only < 40 minutes to planarize while the same time is needed to planarize about 8 μm deep trenches with uniform ridges. In any case the achieved growth rate is higher by at least one order of magnitude than that can be achieved in MBE and MOVPE. Some fabricated BH-QCLs are characterized and they exhibit spatially monomode (TMoo) laser with an output power of as high as 2.4 W and wall plug efficiency of ∼8-9% at RT under CW operation., QC 20150604

III-V semiconductors are suitable for high efficiency and radiation resistant solar cells. However, the high cost of these materials limited the application of these solar cells only for specialty application. High quality polycrystalline III-V thin films on low cost substrate are the viable solutions for the problem. In this work we demonstrate two new approaches to grow polycrystalline InP on Si(001) substrate. (i) A simple chemical solution route which makes use of deposition of In2O3 on Si and its subsequent phosphidisation and (ii) In assisted growth that involves deposition of In metal on Si and subsequent growth of InP from its precursors in hydride vapor phase epitaxy. Both techniques are generic and can be applied to other semiconductors on low cost and flexible substrates., QC 20150108

A coherent InP/Si heterojunction with an atomically abrupt interface and low defect density is obtained by conducting corrugated epitaxial lateral overgrowth of InP on an engineered (001) Si substrate, with InP seed mesa oriented at 30[degree] from the [110] direction in a hydride vapour phase epitaxy reactor. Ohmic conduction across the InP/Si heterojunction can be achieved., QC 20140911

InP thin films have been grown on InP/Si substrate by epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELOG). The nature, origin and filtering of extended defects in ELOG layers grown from single and double openings in SiO2 mask have been investigated. Whereas ELOG layers grown from double openings occasionally exhibit threading dislocations (TDs) at certain points of coalescence, TDs are completely absent in ELOG from single openings. Furthermore, stacking faults (SFs) observed in ELOG layers grown from both opening types originate not from coalescence, but possibly from formation during early stages of ELOG or simply propagate from the seed layer through the mask openings. A model describing their propagation is devised and applied to the existent conditions, showing that SFs can effectively be filtered under certain conditions. ELOG layers grown from identical patterns on InP substrate contained no defects, indicating that the defect-forming mechanism is in any case not inherent to ELOG itself., QC 20131209

High-quality InGaAsP/InP multi-quantum wells (MQWs) on the isolated areas of indium phosphide on silicon necessary for realizing a monolithically integrated silicon laser is achieved. Indium phosphide layer on silicon, the pre-requisite for the growth of quantum wells is achieved via nano-epitaxial lateral overgrowth (NELOG) technique from a defective seed indium phosphide layer on silicon. This technique makes use of epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELOG) from closely spaced (1 m) e-beam lithography-patterned nano-sized openings (∼300 nm) by low-pressure hydride vapor phase epitaxy. A silicon dioxide mask with carefully designed opening patterns and thickness with respect to the opening width is used to block the defects propagating from the indium phosphide seed layer by the so-called necking effect. Growth conditions are optimized to obtain smooth surface morphology even after coalescence of laterally grown indium phosphide from adjacent openings. Surface morphology and optical properties of the NELOG indium phosphide layer are studied using atomic force microscopy, cathodoluminescence and room temperature -photoluminescence (-PL) measurements. Metal organic vapor phase epitaxial growth of InGaAsP/InP MQWs on the NELOG indium phosphide is conducted. The mask patterns to avoid loading effect that can cause excessive well/barrier thickness and composition change with respect to the targeted values is optimized. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscope studies show that the coalesced NELOG InP on Si is defect-free. PL measurement results indicate the good material quality of the grown MQWs. Microdisk (MD) cavities are fabricated from the MQWs on ELOG layer. PL spectra reveal the existence of resonant modes arising out of these MD cavities. A mode solver using finite difference method indicates the pertinent steps that should be adopted to realize lasing., QC 20150624

QS 2014