ROOM TEMPERATURE PHOTOLUMINESCENCE OF GERMANIUM (GE) NANOSTRUCTURES BY HIGH ENERGY IMPLANTATION OF GE INTO A BURIED OXIDE OF SILICON

THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF NANOMETER SIZED INDIRECT BANDGAP SEMICONDUCTORS IS AN AREA OF GREAT FUNDAMENTAL AND PRACTICAL INTEREST. DEMONSTRATIONS OF ROOM TEMPERATURE YELLOW-ORANGE GE PHOTOLUMINESCENCE HAVE MADE SUCH QUANTUM CONFINEMENT EFFECTS OF INTEREST TO BOTH THE COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY MARKETS. A SIGNIFICANT ISSUE RELATED TO THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF GE NANOSTRUCTURES IS THE ABILITY TO FABRICATE A UNIFORM DISTRIBUTION OF NANOCRYSTALLINE PRECIPITATES IN A SILICON (SI) FABRICATION-READY MATRIX. THIS PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE A METHOD OF FABRICATION WHICH INCORPORATES THE IMPLANTATION OF GE(+) IONS INTO A SILICON-IN-INSULATOR (SOI) STRUCTURE. THE PEAK DISTRIBUTION OF THE GE(+) IMPLANT IS DESIGNED TO MATCH THE BURIED OXIDE CENTER POSITION OF THE SOI WAFERS. IN PHASE I, A MATRIX OF IMPLANT AND ANNEAL PARAMETERES IS PLANNED IN ORDER TO OBTAIN A THERMODYNAMICALLY PREDICTED UNIFORM LAYER OF ANGSTROM SIZE GE PRECIPITATES AT A CALCULATED DEPTH. CHARACTERIZATION OF PRECIPITATE PRESENCE AND SIZE WILL BE PERFORMED, ALONG WITH ROOM TEMPERATURE PHOTOLUMINESCENCE (PL) TESTING.