Monolithic integration of InP on Si by molten alloy driven selective area epitaxial growth

Selective electrodeposition of indium microstructures on silicon and their conversion into InAs and InSb semiconductors

The idea of benefitting from the properties of III-V semiconductors and silicon on the same substrate has been occupying the minds of scientists for several years. Although the principle of III-V integration on a silicon-based platform is simple, it is often challenging to perform due to demanding requirements for sample preparation rising from a mismatch in physical properties between those semiconductor groups (e.g. different lattice constants and thermal expansion coefficients), high cost of device-grade materials formation and their post-processing. In this paper, we demonstrate the deposition of group-III metal and III-V semiconductors in microfabricated template structures on silicon as a strategy for heterogeneous device integration on Si. The metal (indium) is selectively electrodeposited in a 2-electrode galvanostatic configuration with the working electrode (WE) located in each template, resulting in well-defined In structures of high purity. The semiconductors InAs and InSb are obtained by vapour phase diffusion of the corresponding group-V element (As, Sb) into the liquified In confined in the template. We discuss in detail the morphological and structural characterization of the synthesized In, InAs and InSb crystals as well as chemical analysis through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), scanning transmission electron microscopy (TEM/STEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The proposed integration path combines the advantage of the mature top-down lithography technology to define device geometries and employs economic electrodeposition (ED) and vapour phase processes to directly integrate difficult-to-process materials on a silicon platform.

Submicron-Size Emitters of the 1.2-1.55 μm Spectral Range Based on InP/InAsP/InP Nanostructures Integrated into Si Substrate

We study photoluminescence of InP/InAsP/InP nanostructures monolithically integrated to a Si(100) substrate. The InP/InAsP/InP nanostructures were grown in pre-formed pits in the silicon substrate using an original approach based on selective area growth and driven by a molten alloy in metal-organic vapor epitaxy method. This approach provides the selective-area synthesis of the ordered emitters arrays on Si substrates. The obtained InP/InAsP/InP nanostructures have a submicron size. The individual InP/InAsP/InP nanostructures were investigated by photoluminescence spectroscopy at room temperature. The tuning of the emission line in the spectral range from 1200 nm to 1550 nm was obtained depending on the growth parameters. These results provide a path for the growth on Si(100) substrate of position-controlled heterojunctions based on InAs_1-xP_x for nanoscale optical devices operating at the telecom band.