Search

The continuous and aggressive downscaling of conventional CMOS devices has been driving the vast growth of ICs over the last few decades. As the CMOS downscaling approaches the fundamental limits, novel device architectures such as metallic source/drain Schottky barrier MOSFET (SB-MOSFET) and SB-FinFET are probably needed to further push the ultimate downscaling. The ultimate goal of this thesis is to integrate metallic Ni1-xPtx silicide (x=0~1) source/drain into SB-MOSFET and SB-FinFET, with an emphasis on both material and processing issues related to the integration of Ni1-xPtx silicides towards competitive devices. First, the effects of both carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) on the formation and on the Schottky barrier height (SBH) of NiSi are studied. The presence of both C and N is found to improve the poor thermal stability of NiSi significantly. The present work also explores dopant segregation (DS) using B and As for the NiSi/Si contact system. The effects of C and N implantation into the Si substrate prior to the NiSi formation are examined, and it is found that the presence of C yields positive effects in helping reduce the effective SBH to 0.1-0.2 eV for both conduction polarities. In order to unveil the mechanism of SBH tuning by DS, the variation of specific contact resistivity between silicide and Si substrates by DS is monitored. The formation of a thin interfacial dipole layer at silicide/Si interface is confirmed to be the reason of SBH modification. Second, a systematic experimental study is performed for Ni1-xPtx silicide (x=0~1) films aiming at the integration into SB-MOSFET. A distinct behavior is found for the formation of Ni silicide films. Epitaxially aligned NiSi2-y films readily grow and exhibit extraordinary morphological stability up to 800 oC when the thickness of deposited Ni (tNi) <4 nm. Polycrystalline NiSi films form and tend to agglomerate at lower temperatures for thinner films for tNi≥4 nm. Such a distinct annealing behavior is abse, QC20100708, NEMO, NANOSIL, SINANO

A densely and monolithically integrated photonic chip on indium phosphide is greatly in need for data transmission but the present day’s level of integration in InP is very low. Silicon enjoys a unique position among all the semiconductors in its level of integration. But it suffers from its slow signal transmission between the circuit boards and between the chips as it uses conventional electronic wire connections. This being the bottle-neck that hinders enhanced transmission speed, optical-interconnects in silicon have been the dream for several years. Suffering from its inherent deficient optical properties, silicon is not supposed to offer this feasibility in the near future. Hence, integration of direct bandgap materials, such as indium phosphide on silicon, is one of the viable alternatives. This thesis addresses these two issues, namely monolithic integration on indium phosphide and monolithic integration of indium phosphide on silicon. To this end, we use two techniques, namely selective epitaxy and heteroepitaxy by employing hydride vapor phase epitaxy method. The first part deals with the exploitation of selective epitaxy for fabricating a discrete and an integrated chip based on InP. The former is a multi-quantum well buried heterostructure laser emitting at 1.55 µm that makes use of AlGaInAs and InGaAsP as the barrier and well, respectively. We demonstrate that even though it contains Al in the active region, semi-insulating InP:Fe can be regrown. The lasers demonstrate threshold as low as 115A/cm2/quantum well, an external quantum efficiency of 45% and a characteristic temperature of 78 K, all at 20 oC. Concerning the integrated device, we demonstrate complex and densely packed buried arrayed waveguide (AWG) structures found in advanced systems-on-the-chip for optical code-division multiple-access (O-CDMA). We present a case of an error-free 10 Gb/s encoding and decoding operation from an eight-channel AWGs with 180 GHz channel spacing. Selective epitax, QC 20100902

Long-wavelength (1.3-μm) vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are of great interest as low-cost, high performance light sources for fiber-optic metro and access networks. During recent years the main development effort in this field has been directed towards all epitaxial GaAs-based structures by employing novel active materials. Different active region candidates for GaAs-based 1.3-μm VCSELs such as GaInNAs/GaAs QWs, GaAsSb QWs or InAs/InGaAs QDs have been investigated. However, the difficult growth and materials properties of these systems have so far hampered any real deployment of the technology. More recently, a new variety of VCSELs have been developed at KTH as based on highly strained InGaAs QWs and negative gain cavity detuning to reach the 1.3-μm wavelength window. The great benefit of this approach is that it is fully compatible with standard materials and processing methods. The aim of this thesis is to investigate long-wavelength (1.3-μm) VCSELs using ~1.2-μm In0.4GaAs/GaAs Multiple Quantum Wells (MQWs). A series of QW structures, DBR structures and laser structures, including VCSELs and Broad Area lasers (BALs) were grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) and characterized by various techniques: Photoluminescence (PL), high-resolution x-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), high accuracy reflectance measurements as well as static and dynamic device characterization. The work can be divided into three parts. The first part is dedicated to the optimization and characterization of InGaAs/GaAs QWs growth for long wavelength and strong luminescence. A strong sensitivity to the detailed growth conditions, such as V/III ratio and substrate misorientation is noted. Dislocations in highly strained InGaAs QW structure and Sb as surfactant assisted in InGaAs QW growth are also discussed here. The second part is related to the AlGaAs/GaAs DBR structures. It is shown that the InGaAs VCSELs with doped bottom DBRs have significa, QC 20101126

Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) are today a commodity on the short wavelength laser market due to the ease with which they are manufactured. Much effort has in the last decade been directed towards making long wavelength VCSELs as successful in the marketplace. This has not been achieved due to the much more difficult fabrication technologies needed for realising high performance long wavelength VCSELs. At one point, GaInNAs quantum wells gain regions grown on GaAs substrates seemed to be the solution as it enabled all-epitaxial VCSELs that could make use of high contrast AlGaAs-based distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) as mirrors and lateral selective oxidation for optical and electrical confinement, thereby mimicking the successful design of short wavelength VCSELs. Although very good device results were achieved, reproducible and reliable epitaxial growth of GaInNAs quantum wells proved difficult and the technology has not made its way into high-volume production. Other approaches to the manufacturing and material problems have been to combine mature InP-based gain regions with high contrast AlGaAs-based DBRs by wafer fusion or with high contrast dielectric DBRs. Commonly, a patterned tunnel junction provides the electrical confinement in these VCSELs. Excellent performance has been achieved in this way but the fabrication process is difficult. In this work, we have employed high strain InGaAs quantum wells along with large detuning between the gain peak and the emission wavelength to realize GaAs-based long wavelength VCSELs. All-epitaxial VCSELs with AlGaAs-based DBRs and lateral oxidation confinement were fabricated and evaluated. The efficiency of these VCSELs was limited due to the optical absorption in the doped DBRs. To improve the efficiency and manufacturability, two novel optical and electrical confinement schemes based on epitaxial regrowth of current blocking layers were developed. The first scheme is based on a single regrowth step a, QC 20100825

A densely and monolithically integrated photonic chip on indium phosphide is greatly in need for data transmission but the present day’s level of integration in InP is very low. Silicon enjoys a unique position among all the semiconductors in its level of integration. But it suffers from its slow signal transmission between the circuit boards and between the chips as it uses conventional electronic wire connections. This being the bottle-neck that hinders enhanced transmission speed, optical-interconnects in silicon have been the dream for several years. Suffering from its inherent deficient optical properties, silicon is not supposed to offer this feasibility in the near future. Hence, integration of direct bandgap materials, such as indium phosphide on silicon, is one of the viable alternatives. This thesis addresses these two issues, namely monolithic integration on indium phosphide and monolithic integration of indium phosphide on silicon. To this end, we use two techniques, namely selective epitaxy and heteroepitaxy by employing hydride vapor phase epitaxy method. The first part deals with the exploitation of selective epitaxy for fabricating a discrete and an integrated chip based on InP. The former is a multi-quantum well buried heterostructure laser emitting at 1.55 µm that makes use of AlGaInAs and InGaAsP as the barrier and well, respectively. We demonstrate that even though it contains Al in the active region, semi-insulating InP:Fe can be regrown. The lasers demonstrate threshold as low as 115A/cm2/quantum well, an external quantum efficiency of 45% and a characteristic temperature of 78 K, all at 20 oC. Concerning the integrated device, we demonstrate complex and densely packed buried arrayed waveguide (AWG) structures found in advanced systems-on-the-chip for optical code-division multiple-access (O-CDMA). We present a case of an error-free 10 Gb/s encoding and decoding operation from an eight-channel AWGs with 180 GHz channel spacing. Selective epitax, QC 20100902

Long-wavelength (1.3-μm) vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are of great interest as low-cost, high performance light sources for fiber-optic metro and access networks. During recent years the main development effort in this field has been directed towards all epitaxial GaAs-based structures by employing novel active materials. Different active region candidates for GaAs-based 1.3-μm VCSELs such as GaInNAs/GaAs QWs, GaAsSb QWs or InAs/InGaAs QDs have been investigated. However, the difficult growth and materials properties of these systems have so far hampered any real deployment of the technology. More recently, a new variety of VCSELs have been developed at KTH as based on highly strained InGaAs QWs and negative gain cavity detuning to reach the 1.3-μm wavelength window. The great benefit of this approach is that it is fully compatible with standard materials and processing methods. The aim of this thesis is to investigate long-wavelength (1.3-μm) VCSELs using ~1.2-μm In0.4GaAs/GaAs Multiple Quantum Wells (MQWs). A series of QW structures, DBR structures and laser structures, including VCSELs and Broad Area lasers (BALs) were grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) and characterized by various techniques: Photoluminescence (PL), high-resolution x-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), high accuracy reflectance measurements as well as static and dynamic device characterization. The work can be divided into three parts. The first part is dedicated to the optimization and characterization of InGaAs/GaAs QWs growth for long wavelength and strong luminescence. A strong sensitivity to the detailed growth conditions, such as V/III ratio and substrate misorientation is noted. Dislocations in highly strained InGaAs QW structure and Sb as surfactant assisted in InGaAs QW growth are also discussed here. The second part is related to the AlGaAs/GaAs DBR structures. It is shown that the InGaAs VCSELs with doped bottom DBRs have significa, QC 20101126

Long-wavelength (1.3-μm) vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are of great interest as low-cost, high performance light sources for fiber-optic metro and access networks. During recent years the main development effort in this field has been directed towards all epitaxial GaAs-based structures by employing novel active materials. Different active region candidates for GaAs-based 1.3-μm VCSELs such as GaInNAs/GaAs QWs, GaAsSb QWs or InAs/InGaAs QDs have been investigated. However, the difficult growth and materials properties of these systems have so far hampered any real deployment of the technology. More recently, a new variety of VCSELs have been developed at KTH as based on highly strained InGaAs QWs and negative gain cavity detuning to reach the 1.3-μm wavelength window. The great benefit of this approach is that it is fully compatible with standard materials and processing methods. The aim of this thesis is to investigate long-wavelength (1.3-μm) VCSELs using ~1.2-μm In0.4GaAs/GaAs Multiple Quantum Wells (MQWs). A series of QW structures, DBR structures and laser structures, including VCSELs and Broad Area lasers (BALs) were grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) and characterized by various techniques: Photoluminescence (PL), high-resolution x-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), high accuracy reflectance measurements as well as static and dynamic device characterization. The work can be divided into three parts. The first part is dedicated to the optimization and characterization of InGaAs/GaAs QWs growth for long wavelength and strong luminescence. A strong sensitivity to the detailed growth conditions, such as V/III ratio and substrate misorientation is noted. Dislocations in highly strained InGaAs QW structure and Sb as surfactant assisted in InGaAs QW growth are also discussed here. The second part is related to the AlGaAs/GaAs DBR structures. It is shown that the InGaAs VCSELs with doped bottom DBRs have significa, QC 20101126

A densely and monolithically integrated photonic chip on indium phosphide is greatly in need for data transmission but the present day’s level of integration in InP is very low. Silicon enjoys a unique position among all the semiconductors in its level of integration. But it suffers from its slow signal transmission between the circuit boards and between the chips as it uses conventional electronic wire connections. This being the bottle-neck that hinders enhanced transmission speed, optical-interconnects in silicon have been the dream for several years. Suffering from its inherent deficient optical properties, silicon is not supposed to offer this feasibility in the near future. Hence, integration of direct bandgap materials, such as indium phosphide on silicon, is one of the viable alternatives. This thesis addresses these two issues, namely monolithic integration on indium phosphide and monolithic integration of indium phosphide on silicon. To this end, we use two techniques, namely selective epitaxy and heteroepitaxy by employing hydride vapor phase epitaxy method. The first part deals with the exploitation of selective epitaxy for fabricating a discrete and an integrated chip based on InP. The former is a multi-quantum well buried heterostructure laser emitting at 1.55 µm that makes use of AlGaInAs and InGaAsP as the barrier and well, respectively. We demonstrate that even though it contains Al in the active region, semi-insulating InP:Fe can be regrown. The lasers demonstrate threshold as low as 115A/cm2/quantum well, an external quantum efficiency of 45% and a characteristic temperature of 78 K, all at 20 oC. Concerning the integrated device, we demonstrate complex and densely packed buried arrayed waveguide (AWG) structures found in advanced systems-on-the-chip for optical code-division multiple-access (O-CDMA). We present a case of an error-free 10 Gb/s encoding and decoding operation from an eight-channel AWGs with 180 GHz channel spacing. Selective epitax, QC 20100902

A densely and monolithically integrated photonic chip on indium phosphide is greatly in need for data transmission but the present day’s level of integration in InP is very low. Silicon enjoys a unique position among all the semiconductors in its level of integration. But it suffers from its slow signal transmission between the circuit boards and between the chips as it uses conventional electronic wire connections. This being the bottle-neck that hinders enhanced transmission speed, optical-interconnects in silicon have been the dream for several years. Suffering from its inherent deficient optical properties, silicon is not supposed to offer this feasibility in the near future. Hence, integration of direct bandgap materials, such as indium phosphide on silicon, is one of the viable alternatives. This thesis addresses these two issues, namely monolithic integration on indium phosphide and monolithic integration of indium phosphide on silicon. To this end, we use two techniques, namely selective epitaxy and heteroepitaxy by employing hydride vapor phase epitaxy method. The first part deals with the exploitation of selective epitaxy for fabricating a discrete and an integrated chip based on InP. The former is a multi-quantum well buried heterostructure laser emitting at 1.55 µm that makes use of AlGaInAs and InGaAsP as the barrier and well, respectively. We demonstrate that even though it contains Al in the active region, semi-insulating InP:Fe can be regrown. The lasers demonstrate threshold as low as 115A/cm2/quantum well, an external quantum efficiency of 45% and a characteristic temperature of 78 K, all at 20 oC. Concerning the integrated device, we demonstrate complex and densely packed buried arrayed waveguide (AWG) structures found in advanced systems-on-the-chip for optical code-division multiple-access (O-CDMA). We present a case of an error-free 10 Gb/s encoding and decoding operation from an eight-channel AWGs with 180 GHz channel spacing. Selective epitax, QC 20100902

Heteroepitaxial SiGe(C) layers have attracted immense attention as a material for performance boost in state of the art electronic devices during recent years. Alloying silicon with germanium and carbon add exclusive opportunities for strain and bandgap engineering. This work presents details of epitaxial growth using chemical vapor deposition (CVD), material characterization and integration of SiGeC layers in MOS devices. Non-selective and selective epitaxial growth of Si1-x-yGexCy (0≤x≤0.30, 0≤y≤0.02) layers have been performed and optimized aimed for various metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) applications. A comprehensive experimental study was performed to investigate the growth of SiGeC layers. The incorporation of C into the SiGe matrix was shown to be strongly sensitive to the growth parameters. As a consequence, a much smaller epitaxial process window compared to SiGe epitaxy was obtained. Incorporation of high boron concentrations (up to 1×1021 atoms/cm3) in SiGe layers aimed for recessed and/or elevated source/drain (S/D) junctions in pMOSFETs was also studied. HCl was used as Si etchant in the CVD reactor to create the recesses which was followed (in a single run) by selective epitaxy of B-doped SiGe. The issue of pattern dependency behavior of selective epitaxial growth was studied in detail. It was shown that a complete removal of pattern dependency in selective SiGe growth using reduced pressure CVD is not likely. However, it was shown that the pattern dependency can be predicted since it is highly dependent on the local Si coverage of the substrate. The pattern dependency was most sensitive for Si coverage in the range 1-10%. In this range drastic changes in growth rate and composition was observed. The pattern dependency was explained by gas depletion inside the low velocity boundary layer. Ni silicide is commonly used to reduce access resistance in S/D and gate areas of MOSFET devices. Therefore, the effect of carbon and germ, QC 20100715

This licentiate thesis deals with the electronic and geometrical properties of metal-semiconductor and organic-semiconductor interfaces investigated by photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy. First in line is the Co-InAs interface (metal-semiconductor) where it is found that Co is reactive and upon adsorption and thermal treatment it alloys with the indium of the substrate to form metallic islands, about 20 nm in diameter. The resulting broken bonds causes As entities to form which are loosely bond to the surface and evaporate upon thermal treatment. Thus, the adsorption of Co results in a rough interface. Secondly the metal-free phthalocyanine (H2PC) - titanium dioxide interface (organic-semiconductor) is investigated. Here it is found that the organic molecules arrange themselves along the substrate rows upon thermal treatment. The interaction with the TiO2 is mainly with the valence Π-electrons in the molecule causing a relatively strong bond, but this interaction is short range as the second layer of molecules retains their molecular character. This results in an ordered adsorption but limited mobility of the molecules on the surface prohibiting well ordered close packed layers. Furthermore, the hydrogen atoms inside the cyclic molecule leave the central void upon thermal treatment. The third case is the H2PC-InAs/InSb interface (organic-semiconductor). Here ordered overlayer growth is found on both substrates where the molecules are preferentially adsorbed on the In rows in the [110] direction forming one-dimensional chains. The InSb-H2PC interface is found to be weakly interacting and the bulk-like molecular character is retained upon both adsorption and thermal treatment. On the InAs-H2PC interface, however, the interaction is stronger. The molecules are more affected by the surface bond and this effect stretches up a few monolayers in the film after annealing., QC 20101122

This licentiate thesis deals with the electronic and geometrical properties of metal-semiconductor and organic-semiconductor interfaces investigated by photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy. First in line is the Co-InAs interface (metal-semiconductor) where it is found that Co is reactive and upon adsorption and thermal treatment it alloys with the indium of the substrate to form metallic islands, about 20 nm in diameter. The resulting broken bonds causes As entities to form which are loosely bond to the surface and evaporate upon thermal treatment. Thus, the adsorption of Co results in a rough interface. Secondly the metal-free phthalocyanine (H2PC) - titanium dioxide interface (organic-semiconductor) is investigated. Here it is found that the organic molecules arrange themselves along the substrate rows upon thermal treatment. The interaction with the TiO2 is mainly with the valence Π-electrons in the molecule causing a relatively strong bond, but this interaction is short range as the second layer of molecules retains their molecular character. This results in an ordered adsorption but limited mobility of the molecules on the surface prohibiting well ordered close packed layers. Furthermore, the hydrogen atoms inside the cyclic molecule leave the central void upon thermal treatment. The third case is the H2PC-InAs/InSb interface (organic-semiconductor). Here ordered overlayer growth is found on both substrates where the molecules are preferentially adsorbed on the In rows in the [110] direction forming one-dimensional chains. The InSb-H2PC interface is found to be weakly interacting and the bulk-like molecular character is retained upon both adsorption and thermal treatment. On the InAs-H2PC interface, however, the interaction is stronger. The molecules are more affected by the surface bond and this effect stretches up a few monolayers in the film after annealing., QC 20101122

This licentiate thesis deals with the electronic and geometrical properties of metal-semiconductor and organic-semiconductor interfaces investigated by photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy. First in line is the Co-InAs interface (metal-semiconductor) where it is found that Co is reactive and upon adsorption and thermal treatment it alloys with the indium of the substrate to form metallic islands, about 20 nm in diameter. The resulting broken bonds causes As entities to form which are loosely bond to the surface and evaporate upon thermal treatment. Thus, the adsorption of Co results in a rough interface. Secondly the metal-free phthalocyanine (H2PC) - titanium dioxide interface (organic-semiconductor) is investigated. Here it is found that the organic molecules arrange themselves along the substrate rows upon thermal treatment. The interaction with the TiO2 is mainly with the valence Π-electrons in the molecule causing a relatively strong bond, but this interaction is short range as the second layer of molecules retains their molecular character. This results in an ordered adsorption but limited mobility of the molecules on the surface prohibiting well ordered close packed layers. Furthermore, the hydrogen atoms inside the cyclic molecule leave the central void upon thermal treatment. The third case is the H2PC-InAs/InSb interface (organic-semiconductor). Here ordered overlayer growth is found on both substrates where the molecules are preferentially adsorbed on the In rows in the [110] direction forming one-dimensional chains. The InSb-H2PC interface is found to be weakly interacting and the bulk-like molecular character is retained upon both adsorption and thermal treatment. On the InAs-H2PC interface, however, the interaction is stronger. The molecules are more affected by the surface bond and this effect stretches up a few monolayers in the film after annealing., QC 20101122

This thesis investigates different material systems and processing technology for high temperature compatible laser diodes used in volume applications within the 1.3-μm telecom wavelength window. Laser diodes built from such materials are much desired in order to eleminate the need for active temperature control needed in current systems, which significantly increases both complexity, size and cost. The structures were grown by Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) and the evaluation of materials was performed using different characterization methods such as High-Resolution X-Ray Diffraction (HR-XRD), Photoluminescence (PL), Time-Resolved Photoluminescence (TR-PL). Fabrication and evaluation of Fabry-Perot lasers with different geometries was used to check the material quality and temperature performance. A novel in-situ etching technique was developed for the use i future more advanced, buried hetrostructure lasers. The first studied materials system was AlGaInAsP/InGaAsP/InP. To handle a 5-element material with the precision required, modelling of the materials and heterostructure properties was performed. The addition of Al to the InGaAsP barrier allows better electron confinement with little change in valence band properties. The optimum aluminium content was found to be about 12%. Although the effect of Al could be identified, it was not sufficient with T0 of only 90 K only up to 60 °C. A second materials system InGaP/InAsP/ InP initially looked quite promising from a materials and quantum well design point of view but encountered severe problems with the device integration and further work was discontinued. The main effort was therefore was devoted to a third materials system: AlGaInAs/AlGaInAs/InP. This material system is not unknown but has hitherto not found a widespread application for fibre optic applications. In this work, the MOCVD growth of 1.3 μ;m quantum well laser structures was optimized and ridge waveguide laser devices with excellent te, QC 20100930

Silicon carbide rectifiers are commercially available since 2001, and MESFET switches are expected to enter the market within a year. Moreover, three inch SiC wafers can be purchased nowadays without critical defects for the device performance and four inch substrate wafers are announced for the year 2005. Despite this tremendous development in SiC technology, the reliability issues like device degradation or high channel mobility still remain to be solved. This thesis focuses on SiC surface passivation and termination, a topic which is very important for the utilisation of the full potential of this semiconductor. Three dielectrics with high dielectric constants, Al2O3, AlN and TiO2, were deposited on SiC with different techniques. The structural and electrical properties of the dielectrics were measured and the best insulating layers were then deposited on fully processed and well characterised 1.2 kV 4H SiC PiN diodes. For the best Al2O3 layers, the leakage current was reduced to half its value and the breakdown voltage was extended by 0.5 kV, reaching 1.6 kV, compared to non passivated devices. As important as the proper choice of dielectric material is a proper surface preparation prior to deposition of the insulator. In the thesis two surface treatments were tested, a standard HF termination used in silicon technology and an exposure to UV light from a mercury lamp. The second technique is highly interesting since a substantial improvement was observed when UV light was used prior to the dielectric deposition. Moreover, UV light stabilized the surface and reduced the leakage current by a factor of 100 for SiC devices after 10 Mrad γ ray exposition. The experiments indicate also that the measured leakage currents of the order of pA are dominated by surface leakage., QC 20110114

This thesis investigates different material systems and processing technology for high temperature compatible laser diodes used in volume applications within the 1.3-μm telecom wavelength window. Laser diodes built from such materials are much desired in order to eleminate the need for active temperature control needed in current systems, which significantly increases both complexity, size and cost. The structures were grown by Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) and the evaluation of materials was performed using different characterization methods such as High-Resolution X-Ray Diffraction (HR-XRD), Photoluminescence (PL), Time-Resolved Photoluminescence (TR-PL). Fabrication and evaluation of Fabry-Perot lasers with different geometries was used to check the material quality and temperature performance. A novel in-situ etching technique was developed for the use i future more advanced, buried hetrostructure lasers. The first studied materials system was AlGaInAsP/InGaAsP/InP. To handle a 5-element material with the precision required, modelling of the materials and heterostructure properties was performed. The addition of Al to the InGaAsP barrier allows better electron confinement with little change in valence band properties. The optimum aluminium content was found to be about 12%. Although the effect of Al could be identified, it was not sufficient with T0 of only 90 K only up to 60 °C. A second materials system InGaP/InAsP/ InP initially looked quite promising from a materials and quantum well design point of view but encountered severe problems with the device integration and further work was discontinued. The main effort was therefore was devoted to a third materials system: AlGaInAs/AlGaInAs/InP. This material system is not unknown but has hitherto not found a widespread application for fibre optic applications. In this work, the MOCVD growth of 1.3 μ;m quantum well laser structures was optimized and ridge waveguide laser devices with excellent te, QC 20100930

Semiconductor nanotechnology is today a very well studied subject, and demonstrations of possible applications and concepts are abundant. However, well-controlled mass-fabrication on the nanoscale is still a great challenge, and the lack of nanofabrication methods that provide the combination of required fabrication precision and high throughput, limits the large-scale use of nanodevices. This work aims in resolving some of the issues related to nanostructure fabrication, and deals with development of nanofabrication processes, the use of size-reduction for reaching true nanoscale dimensions (20 nm or below), and finally the optical and electrical characterization to understand the physics of the more successful structures and devices in this work. Due to its widespread use in microelectronics, silicon was the material of choice throughout this work. Initially, a fabrication process based on electron beam lithography (EBL) was designed, allowing controlled fabrication of devices of dimensions down to 30 nm, although, generally, initial device dimensions were above 70 nm, allowing the flexible but low-throughput EBL, to be replaced by state-of-the-art optical lithography in the case of industrialization of the process. A few main processes were developed throughout the course of this work, which were capable of defining silicon nanopillar and nano-wall arrays from bulk silicon, and silicon nanowire devices from silicon-on-insulator (SOI) material. Secondly, size-reduction, as a means of providing access to few-nanometer dimensions not available by current lithography techniques was investigated. An additional goal of the size-reduction studies was to find self-limiting mechanisms in the process, that would limit the impact of variations in the size and other imperfections of the initial structures. Thermal oxidation was investigated mainly for self-limited size-reduction of silicon nanopillars, resulting in well-defined quantum dot arrays of few-nm dimensions. Electr, QC 20101101

Silicon carbide rectifiers are commercially available since 2001, and MESFET switches are expected to enter the market within a year. Moreover, three inch SiC wafers can be purchased nowadays without critical defects for the device performance and four inch substrate wafers are announced for the year 2005. Despite this tremendous development in SiC technology, the reliability issues like device degradation or high channel mobility still remain to be solved. This thesis focuses on SiC surface passivation and termination, a topic which is very important for the utilisation of the full potential of this semiconductor. Three dielectrics with high dielectric constants, Al2O3, AlN and TiO2, were deposited on SiC with different techniques. The structural and electrical properties of the dielectrics were measured and the best insulating layers were then deposited on fully processed and well characterised 1.2 kV 4H SiC PiN diodes. For the best Al2O3 layers, the leakage current was reduced to half its value and the breakdown voltage was extended by 0.5 kV, reaching 1.6 kV, compared to non passivated devices. As important as the proper choice of dielectric material is a proper surface preparation prior to deposition of the insulator. In the thesis two surface treatments were tested, a standard HF termination used in silicon technology and an exposure to UV light from a mercury lamp. The second technique is highly interesting since a substantial improvement was observed when UV light was used prior to the dielectric deposition. Moreover, UV light stabilized the surface and reduced the leakage current by a factor of 100 for SiC devices after 10 Mrad γ ray exposition. The experiments indicate also that the measured leakage currents of the order of pA are dominated by surface leakage., QC 20110114

This thesis investigates different material systems and processing technology for high temperature compatible laser diodes used in volume applications within the 1.3-μm telecom wavelength window. Laser diodes built from such materials are much desired in order to eleminate the need for active temperature control needed in current systems, which significantly increases both complexity, size and cost. The structures were grown by Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) and the evaluation of materials was performed using different characterization methods such as High-Resolution X-Ray Diffraction (HR-XRD), Photoluminescence (PL), Time-Resolved Photoluminescence (TR-PL). Fabrication and evaluation of Fabry-Perot lasers with different geometries was used to check the material quality and temperature performance. A novel in-situ etching technique was developed for the use i future more advanced, buried hetrostructure lasers. The first studied materials system was AlGaInAsP/InGaAsP/InP. To handle a 5-element material with the precision required, modelling of the materials and heterostructure properties was performed. The addition of Al to the InGaAsP barrier allows better electron confinement with little change in valence band properties. The optimum aluminium content was found to be about 12%. Although the effect of Al could be identified, it was not sufficient with T0 of only 90 K only up to 60 °C. A second materials system InGaP/InAsP/ InP initially looked quite promising from a materials and quantum well design point of view but encountered severe problems with the device integration and further work was discontinued. The main effort was therefore was devoted to a third materials system: AlGaInAs/AlGaInAs/InP. This material system is not unknown but has hitherto not found a widespread application for fibre optic applications. In this work, the MOCVD growth of 1.3 μ;m quantum well laser structures was optimized and ridge waveguide laser devices with excellent te, QC 20100930

Silicon carbide rectifiers are commercially available since 2001, and MESFET switches are expected to enter the market within a year. Moreover, three inch SiC wafers can be purchased nowadays without critical defects for the device performance and four inch substrate wafers are announced for the year 2005. Despite this tremendous development in SiC technology, the reliability issues like device degradation or high channel mobility still remain to be solved. This thesis focuses on SiC surface passivation and termination, a topic which is very important for the utilisation of the full potential of this semiconductor. Three dielectrics with high dielectric constants, Al2O3, AlN and TiO2, were deposited on SiC with different techniques. The structural and electrical properties of the dielectrics were measured and the best insulating layers were then deposited on fully processed and well characterised 1.2 kV 4H SiC PiN diodes. For the best Al2O3 layers, the leakage current was reduced to half its value and the breakdown voltage was extended by 0.5 kV, reaching 1.6 kV, compared to non passivated devices. As important as the proper choice of dielectric material is a proper surface preparation prior to deposition of the insulator. In the thesis two surface treatments were tested, a standard HF termination used in silicon technology and an exposure to UV light from a mercury lamp. The second technique is highly interesting since a substantial improvement was observed when UV light was used prior to the dielectric deposition. Moreover, UV light stabilized the surface and reduced the leakage current by a factor of 100 for SiC devices after 10 Mrad γ ray exposition. The experiments indicate also that the measured leakage currents of the order of pA are dominated by surface leakage., QC 20110114