Instrumentation and Process Development for the Production of Orientation-Patterned GaAs (OP-GaAs)

Sunvolt Nanosystems, Inc. and Stanford University propose to develop methods to enable commercial supply of high quality, periodically oriented GaAs and other III-IV semiconductor materials. To do this, we will combine our expertise in materials research, production equipment, and process development. We will employ a soon-to-be delivered state of the art HVPE system at the Stanford University Center for Integrated Systems. The quasi-phasematching in OP-GaAs allows efficient infrared frequency conversion throughout the transparency range of GaAs from 1 mm out to 17 mm. Thus OP-GaAs is an enabling technology for compact high-power mid-IR sources for IRCM and for frequency-agile sources suitable for local and remote sensing of chemical and biological species. With near-IR solid-state laser pumping, GaAs can be tuned over the entire fingerprint region of common inorganic and organic molecules. Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy (HVPE) is the best available method to produce bulk OP-GaAs. There are no commercial sources for HVPE thick film growth; the best present producer is growing 0.5 mm films in small quantities with several productivity and quality issues. To extend device performance, millimeter-plus layers are required; Sunvolt Nanosystems and Stanford University will develop robust scalable processes that yield ultra-thick layers in a single growth step.