Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule Zurich

Sulzer Metco Ag

Dichroic Cell S.r.l.

Epispeed S.a.

Hans Von Kaenel

Isabelle Sagnes

Guillaume Jacques Saint-Girons

Sophie Bouchoule

Reinhard Haid

Relaxed germanium buffer layers can be grown economically on misoriented silicon wafers by low-energy plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. In conjunction with thermal annealing and/or patterning, the buffer layers can serve as high-quality virtual substrates for the growth of crack-free GaAs layers suitable for high-efficiency solar cells, lasers and field effect transistors.

Method for producing virtual Ge substrates for III/V-integration on Si(001)

An apparatus and process for fast epitaxial deposition of compound semiconductor layers includes a low-energy, high-density plasma generating apparatus for plasma enhanced vapor phase epitaxy. The process provides in one step, combining one or more metal vapors with gases of non-metallic elements in a deposition chamber. Then highly activating the gases in the presence of a dense, low-energy plasma. Concurrently reacting the metal vapor with the highly activated gases and depositing the reaction product on a heated substrate in communication with a support immersed in the plasma, to form a semiconductor layer on the substrate. The process is carbon-free and especially suited for epitaxial growth of nitride semiconductors at growth rates up to 10 nm/s and substrate temperatures below 1000&#xb0; C. on large-area silicon substrates. The process requires neither carbon-containing gases nor gases releasing hydrogen, and in the absence of toxic carrier or reagent gases, is environment friendly.

System and process for high-density, low-energy plasma enhanced vapor phase epitaxy

Method for forming a highly relaxed epitaxial semiconductor layer () with a thickness between 100 nm and 800 nm in a growth chamber includes four principle steps. In a first step, the method provides a substrate () in the growth chamber on a substrate carrier. In a second step, the method maintains a constant substrate temperature (T) of the substrate () in a range between 350&#xb0; C. and 500&#xb0; C. In a third step, the method establishes a high-density, low-energy plasma in the growth chamber such that the substrate () is being exposed to the plasma. In a fourth step, the method directs Silane gas (SiH) and Germane gas (GeH) through the gas inlet into the growth chamber, the flow rates of the Silane gas and the Germane gas being adjusted in order to form said semiconductor layer () by means of vapor deposition with a growth rate in a range between 1 and 10 nm/s. The semiconductor layer () has a Germanium concentration x in a range between 0&#x3c;x&#x3c;50%.

Formation of thin semiconductor layers by low-energy plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition and semiconductor heterostructure devices

Method for making an InGaAs/GaAs quantum well laser () on a Silicon substrate (). The method comprises the steps:

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