Direct growth of single-crystalline III–V semiconductors on amorphous substrates

Abstract

The III–V compound semiconductors exhibit superb electronic and optoelectronic properties. Traditionally, closely lattice-matched epitaxial substrates have been required for the growth of high-quality single-crystal III–V thin films and patterned microstructures. To remove this materials constraint, here we introduce a growth mode that enables direct writing of single-crystalline III–V's on amorphous substrates, thus further expanding their utility for various applications. The process utilizes templated liquid-phase crystal growth that results in user-tunable, patterned micro and nanostructures of single-crystalline III–V's of up to tens of micrometres in lateral dimensions. InP is chosen as a model material system owing to its technological importance. The patterned InP single crystals are configured as high-performance transistors and photodetectors directly on amorphous SiO2 growth substrates, with performance matching state-of-the-art epitaxially grown devices. The work presents an important advance towards universal integration of III–V's on application-specific substrates by direct growth.

Controlled growth of aligned GaN nanostructures: from nanowires and needles to micro-rods on a single substrate

“…In this case, NiAu would promote the pyrolysis of NH 3 at a relatively low growth temperature (790 C), which is helpful for direct growth of nanodevices on unusual substrates of low melting temperature. [30][31][32][33][34][35] While, the growth of nanowires ( Fig. 2(d)) would have similar mechanism with VLS, because the nanowires have a high aspect ratio of $100, which can not be realized by using normal SAG.…”

Epitaxial Lattice Matching and the Growth Techniques of Compound Semiconductors for their Potential Photovoltaic Applications

“…With this method, high purity compounds are obtained. It is also reported that they offer high values of mobility, life time and free mean path for the minority carriers [17]- [21]. …”

Ordering of binary colloidal crystals by random potentials

“…indeed, control over defects enables the development of solid-state devices with fine-tuned mechanical resilience, optical properties, and heat and electrical conductivity [5][6][7][8][9]. In atomic crystals, engineering structural defects is an experimental challenge for two reasons [10]: first, current visualization techniques at the atomic scale do not provide a high spatial or time resolution [11,12]; second, no current technique can control the density of defects in a systematic manner [13].…”

“…Since the coarsening time of these crystallites diverges with size, structural defects appear and prevent the emergence of global order [3,4]. While the existence of these defects is a challenge when growing single crystals, it can also be an opportunity when engineering the properties of materials; indeed, control over defects enables the development of solid-state devices with fine-tuned mechanical resilience, optical properties, and heat and electrical conductivity [5][6][7][8][9]. In atomic crystals, engineering structural defects is an experimental challenge for two reasons [10]: first, current visualization techniques at the atomic scale do not provide a high spatial or time resolution [11,12]; second, no current technique can control the density of defects in a systematic manner [13].…”