Isotopically Enriched (28)Si Crystals for Electronics Applications.

The objective of this research is to study the thermal and electronic properties of isotopically enriched (28)Si epitaxial films which are potentially attractive for high density, high-speed electronic circuit applications. The natural abundance of Si is roughly 92.2% of (28)Si, 4.7% of (29)Si, and 3.1% of (30)Si, which is also roughly the composition of Si crystals currently used in industry. By removing the heavier isotopes (i.e., (29)Si and (30)Si), it is very likely that the enriched (28)Si crystal will have a much better thermal conductivity and carrier mobility, due to the reduction of the scattering centers arising from the heavy isotope 'impurities'. jg p.3