ATOMIC LAYER EPITAXY OF III-V COMPOUNDS FOR REPRODUCIBLE MULTILAYER NANOSTRUCTURES

THE PROPOSED RESEARCH PROGRAM WILL COUPLE ATOMICLAYER EPITAXY (ALE) WITH CONVENTIONAL METALORGANIC CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION (MOCVD) MULTILAYERED DEVICE STRUCTURES WITH ULTRA-THIN (20-2500 A) FEATURES. THE BENEFIT OF THIS WILL BE HIGHER THROUGHPUT, YIELD AND REPRODUCIBILITY THAN CAN BE OBTAINED BY ALE ALONE. ALE IS ESPECIALLY SUITED FOR THE DEPOSITION OF ULTRA-THIN FILMS, OFFERING EXCELLENT UNIFORMITY AND THICKNESS CONTROL IN A SELF-LIMITING MANNER. A HYBRID DEPOSITION SCHEME WHICH COMBINES ALE AND CONVENTIONAL MOCVD DEPOSITION WILL BE UTILIZED TO GROW QUANTUM WELL (QW) LASER STRUCTURES IN THE A1GAAS/GAAS SYSTEM. THE GOAL OF PHASE I WILL BE TO ESTABLISH DEPOSITION PARAMETERS FOR ALE OF GAAS/A1GAAS IN A LARGE-SCALE, MULTIPLE WAFER MOCVD SYSTEM. A SECOND OBJECTIVE WILL BE TO DEMONSTRATE FEASIBILITY OF THE HYBRID DEPOSITION SCHEME, WHERE THE ACTIVE GAAS-A1GAAS INTERFACES OFA QW LASER WILL BE DEPOSITED BY ALE AND THE REST OF THE STRUCTURE BY CONVENTIONAL MOCVD. PHASE II WILL SEEK TO OPTIMIZE MO-ALE DEPOSITION PARAMETERS AND DEVICE STRUCTURES (QW LASER AND HBTS) FOR EXCELLENT UNIFORMITY, REPRODUCIBILITY AND LOWER COST. REACTOR DEVELOPMENT WILL BE INCLUDED AS PART OF THE MO-ALE OPTIMIZATION PROCESS FOR HIGHER YIELD WITHOUT COMPROMISING REACTOR THROUGHPUT. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF PHASES I ANDII WILL PROVIDE A RELIABLE PROCESS FOR GAAS/A1GAAS MULTILAYER STRUCTURES, SUCH AS QW LASERS AND HBTS, WITH EXCELLENT CONTROL OVER WELL THICKNESS, GOOD REPRODUCILITY, AND HIGH YIELD. MOREVOER, THESE RESEARCH EFFORTS WILL LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW GENERATION OF REACTORS CAPABLE OF LARGE AREA DEPOSITION WIHT PRECISE CONTROL OVER FILM THICKNESS, AND COMPOSITION.