silicon and indium-arsenide

In (para-)thyroid surgery iatrogenic parathyroid injury should be prevented. To aid the surgeons' eye, a camera system enabling parathyroid-specific image enhancement would be useful. Hyperspectral camera technology might work, provided that the spectral signature of parathyroid tissue offers enough specific features to be reliably and automatically distinguished from surrounding tissues. As a first step to investigate this, we examined the feasibility of wide band diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) for automated spectroscopic tissue classification, using silicon (Si) and indium-gallium-arsenide (InGaAs) sensors.. DRS (350-1830 nm) was performed during (para-)thyroid resections. From the acquired spectra 36 features at predefined wavelengths were extracted. The best features for classification of parathyroid from adipose or thyroid were assessed by binary logistic regression for Si- and InGaAs-sensor ranges. Classification performance was evaluated by leave-one-out cross-validation.. In 19 patients 299 spectra were recorded (62 tissue sites: thyroid = 23, parathyroid = 21, adipose = 18). Classification accuracy of parathyroid-adipose was, respectively, 79% (Si), 82% (InGaAs) and 97% (Si/InGaAs combined). Parathyroid-thyroid classification accuracies were 80% (Si), 75% (InGaAs), 82% (Si/InGaAs combined).. Si and InGaAs sensors are fairly accurate for automated spectroscopic classification of parathyroid, adipose and thyroid tissues. Combination of both sensor technologies improves accuracy. Follow-up research, aimed towards hyperspectral imaging seems justified. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Topics: Adipose Tissue; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Arsenicals; Automation; Calibration; Electronic Data Processing; Equipment Design; Female; Gallium; Humans; Indium; Male; Middle Aged; Parathyroid Glands; Regression Analysis; Silicon; Spectrophotometry; Spectrum Analysis; Thyroid Gland; Young Adult

By applying a texturing process to silicon substrates, we demonstrate the possibility to integrate III-V nanowires on (100) oriented silicon substrates. Nanowires are found to grow perpendicular to the {111}-oriented facets of pyramids formed by KOH etching. Having control of the substrate orientation relative to the incoming fluxes enables not only the growth of nanowires on selected facets of the pyramids but also studying the influence of the fluxes on the nanowire nucleation and growth. Making use of these findings, we show that nanowires with different dimensions can be grown on the same sample and, additionally, it is even possible to integrate nanowires of different semiconductor materials, for example, GaAs and InAs, on the very same sample.

Topics: Adsorption; Arsenicals; Crystallization; Gallium; Indium; Materials Testing; Nanocomposites; Nanowires; Particle Size; Silicon; Surface Properties; Systems Integration

Photoconductors using vertical arrays of InAs/InAs(1-x)Sb(x) nanowires with varying Sb composition x have been fabricated and characterized. The spectrally resolved photocurrents are strongly diameter dependent with peaks, which are red-shifted with diameter, appearing for thicker wires. Results from numerical simulations are in good agreement with the experimental data and reveal that the peaks are due to resonant modes that enhance the coupling of light into the wires. Through proper selection of wire diameter, the absorptance can be increased by more than 1 order of magnitude at a specific wavelength compared to a thin planar film with the same amount of material. A maximum 20% cutoff wavelength of 5.7 μm is obtained at 5 K for a wire diameter of 717 nm at a Sb content of x = 0.62, but simulations predict that detection at longer wavelengths can be achieved by increasing the diameter. Furthermore, photodetection in InAsSb nanowire arrays integrated on Si substrates is also demonstrated.

Topics: Arsenicals; Indium; Light; Nanowires; Particle Size; Photochemistry; Silicon; Surface Properties

We report a new type of single InAs quantum dot (QD) embedded at the junction of gold-free branched GaAs/AlGaAs nanowire (NW) grown on silicon substrate. The photoluminescence intensity of such QD is ~20 times stronger than that from randomly distributed QD grown on the facet of straight NW. Sharp excitonic emission is observed at 4.2 K with a line width of 101 μeV and a vanishing two-photon emission probability of g(2)(0) = 0.031(2). This new nanostructure may open new ways for designing novel quantum optoelectronic devices.

Topics: Arsenicals; Equipment Design; Gallium; Indium; Nanostructures; Nanotechnology; Nanowires; Quantum Dots; Silicon

We report changes of turn-on voltage in InAs-Si heterojunction steep subthreshold-slope transistors by the Zn-pulsed doping technique for InAs nanowire channels. The doping of the nanowire channel moderately changes turn-on voltage from negative to positive voltage, while keeping a steep subthreshold-slope of 30 mV/decade under reverse bias direction. The formation of pseudointrinsic InAs segment is found to be important to make a normally off transistor with a steep subthreshold slope.

Topics: Arsenicals; Indium; Nanotechnology; Nanowires; Silicon; Surface Properties; Zinc

The ever-growing demand on high-performance electronics has generated transistors with very impressive figures of merit (Radosavljevic et al., IEEE Int. Devices Meeting 2009, 1-4 and Cho et al., IEEE Int. Devices Meeting 2011, 15.1.1-15.1.4). The continued scaling of the supply voltage of field-effect transistors, such as tunnel field-effect transistors (TFETs), requires the implementation of advanced transistor architectures including FinFETs and nanowire devices. Moreover, integration of novel materials with high electron mobilities, such as III-V semiconductors and graphene, are also being considered to further enhance the device properties (del Alamo, Nature 2011, 479, 317-323, and Liao et al., Nature 2010, 467, 305-308). In nanowire devices, boosting the drive current at a fixed supply voltage or maintaining a constant drive current at a reduced supply voltage may be achieved by increasing the cross-sectional area of a device, however at the cost of deteriorated electrostatics. A gate-all-around nanowire device architecture is the most favorable electrostatic configuration to suppress short channel effects; however, the arrangement of arrays of parallel vertical nanowires to address the drive current predicament will require additional chip area. The use of a core-shell nanowire with a radial heterojunction in a transistor architecture provides an attractive means to address the drive current issue without compromising neither chip area nor device electrostatics. In addition to design advantages of a radial transistor architecture, we in this work illustrate the benefit in terms of drive current per unit chip area and compare the experimental data for axial GaSb/InAs Esaki diodes and TFETs to their radial counterparts and normalize the electrical data to the largest cross-sectional area of the nanowire, i.e. the occupied chip area, assuming a vertical device geometry. Our data on lateral devices show that radial Esaki diodes deliver almost 7 times higher peak current, Jpeak = 2310 kA/cm(2), than the maximum peak current of axial GaSb/InAs(Sb) Esaki diodes per unit chip area. The radial TFETs also deliver high peak current densities Jpeak = 1210 kA/cm(2), while their axial counterparts at most carry Jpeak = 77 kA/cm(2), normalized to the largest cross-sectional area of the nanowire.

Topics: Arsenicals; Electrons; Graphite; Indium; Nanostructures; Nanowires; Semiconductors; Silicon; Transistors, Electronic

Utilizing narrow band gap nanowire (NW) materials to extend nanophotonic applications to the mid-infrared spectral region (>2-3 μm) is highly attractive, however, progress has been seriously hampered due to their poor radiative efficiencies arising from nonradiative surface and Auger recombination. Here, we demonstrate up to ~ 10(2) times enhancements of the emission intensities from InAs NWs by growing an InAsP shell to produce core-shell NWs. By systematically varying the thickness and phosphorus (P)-content of the InAsP shell, we demonstrate the ability to further tune the emission energy via large strain-induced peak shifts that already exceed >100 meV at comparatively low fractional P-contents. Increasing the P-content is found to give rise to additional line width broadening due to asymmetric shell growth generated by a unique transition from {110}- to {112}-sidewall growth as confirmed by cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy. The results also elucidate the detrimental effects of plastic strain relaxation on the emission characteristics, particularly in core-shell structures with very high P-content and shell thickness. Overall, our findings highlight that enhanced mid-infrared emission efficiencies with effective carrier confinement and suppression of nonradiative recombination are highly sensitive to the quality of the InAs-InAsP core-shell interface.

Topics: Arsenicals; Indium; Luminescence; Nanoshells; Nanostructures; Nanowires; Silicon; Surface Properties

The optical and electrical properties of InAs quantum dots epitaxially grown on a silicon substrate have been investigated to evaluate their potential as both photodiodes and avalanche photodiodes (APDs) operating at a wavelength of 1300 nm. A peak responsivity of 5 mA/W was observed at 1280 nm, with an absorption tail extending beyond 1300 nm, while the dark currents were two orders of magnitude lower than those reported for Ge on Si photodiodes. The diodes exhibited avalanche breakdown at 22 V reverse bias which is probably dominated by impact ionisation occurring in the GaAs and AlGaAs barrier layers. A red shift in the absorption peak of 61.2 meV was measured when the reverse bias was increased from 0 to 22 V, which we attributed to the quantum confined stark effect. This shift also leads to an increase in the responsivity at a fixed wavelength as the bias is increased, yielding a maximum increase in responsivity by a factor of 140 at the wavelength of 1365 nm, illustrating the potential for such a structure to be used as an optical modulator.

Topics: Absorption; Arsenicals; Germanium; Indium; Materials Testing; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; Nanotechnology; Optics and Photonics; Photochemistry; Quantum Dots; Quantum Theory; Silicon; Surface Properties

In this paper we present GaInAsSb photodiodes heterogeneously integrated on SOI by BCB adhesive bonding for operation in the short-wave infrared wavelength region. Photodiodes using evanescent coupling between the silicon waveguide and the III-V structure are presented, showing a room temperature responsivity of 1.4A/W at 2.3 µm. Photodiode structures using a diffraction grating to couple from the silicon waveguide layer to the integrated photodiode are reported, showing a responsivity of 0.4A/W at 2.2 µm.

Topics: Arsenicals; Equipment Design; Equipment Failure Analysis; Gallium; Indium; Infrared Rays; Light; Photometry; Refractometry; Scattering, Radiation; Semiconductors; Silicon; Surface Plasmon Resonance; Systems Integration

We report novel indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) nanopillar lasers that are monolithically grown on (100)-silicon-based functional metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) at low temperature (410 °C). The MOSFETs maintain their performance after the nanopillar growth, providing a direct demonstration of complementary metal-oxide-semiconudctor (CMOS) compatibility. Room-temperature operation of optically pumped lasers is also achieved. To our knowledge, this is the first time that monolithically integrated lasers and transistors have been shown to work on the same silicon chip, serving as a proof-of-concept that such integration can be extended to more complicated CMOS integrated circuits.

Topics: Arsenicals; Crystallization; Equipment Design; Equipment Failure Analysis; Gallium; Indium; Lasers; Nanotechnology; Silicon; Transistors, Electronic

We report the first room-temperature continuous-wave operation of III-V quantum-dot laser diodes monolithically grown on a Si substrate. Long-wavelength InAs/GaAs quantum-dot structures were fabricated on Ge-on-Si substrates. Room-temperature lasing at a wavelength of 1.28 μm has been achieved with threshold current densities of 163 A/cm(2) and 64.3 A/cm(2) under continuous-wave and pulsed conditions for ridge-waveguide lasers with as cleaved facets, respectively. The value of 64.3 A/cm(2) represents the lowest room-temperature threshold current density for any kind of laser on Si to date.

Topics: Arsenicals; Crystallization; Electric Conductivity; Equipment Design; Equipment Failure Analysis; Gallium; Indium; Lasers, Semiconductor; Materials Testing; Quantum Dots; Silicon

Freestanding, edge-supported silicon nanomembranes are defined by selective underetching of patterned silicon-on-insulator substrates. The membranes are afterward introduced into a molecular beam epitaxy chamber and overgrown with InAs, resulting in the formation of InAs islands on flat areas and at the top of the Si nanomembranes. A detailed analysis of sample morphology, island structure, and strain is carried out. Scanning electron microscopy shows that the membrane stays intact during overgrowth. Atomic force microscopy reveals a lower island density on top of the freestanding membranes, denoting a modified wetting or diffusivity in these areas. An observed bending of the membrane indicates a strain transfer from the InAs islands to the compliant substrate. X-ray diffraction and finite-element modeling indicate a nonuniform strain state of the island ensemble grown on the freestanding membrane. A simulation of the bending of the nanomembranes indicates that the islands at the center of the freestanding area are highly strained, whereas islands on the border tend to be fully relaxed. Finally, continuum elasticity calculations suggest that for a sufficiently thin membrane InAs could transfer enough strain to the membrane to allow coherent epitaxial growth, something not possible on bulk substrates.

Topics: Arsenicals; Computer Simulation; Elastic Modulus; Indium; Materials Testing; Membranes, Artificial; Models, Chemical; Models, Molecular; Nanostructures; Silicon; Tensile Strength

InAs with an extremely high electron mobility (up to 40,000 cm(2)/V s) seems to be the most suitable candidate for better electronic devices performance. Here we present a synthesis of inverted crystalline InAs nanopyramids (NPs) in silicon using a combined hot ion implantation and millisecond flash lamp annealing techniques. Conventional selective etching was used to form the InAs/Si heterojunction. The current-voltage measurement confirms the heterojunction diode formation with the ideality factor of η = 4.6. Kelvin probe force microscopy measurements indicate a type-II band alignment of n-type InAs NPs on p-type silicon. The main advantage of our method is its integration with large-scale silicon technology, which also allows applying it for Si-based electronic devices.

Topics: Arsenicals; Indium; Nanostructures; Nanotechnology; Particle Size; Silicon; Silicon Dioxide; Surface Properties

We report on the one-dimensional (1D) heteroepitaxial growth of In(x)Ga(1-x)As (x = 0.2-1) nanowires (NWs) on silicon (Si) substrates over almost the entire composition range using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) without catalysts or masks. The epitaxial growth takes place spontaneously producing uniform, nontapered, high aspect ratio NW arrays with a density exceeding 1 × 10(8)/cm(2). NW diameter (∼30-250 nm) is inversely proportional to the lattice mismatch between In(x)Ga(1-x)As and Si (∼4-11%), and can be further tuned by MOCVD growth condition. Remarkably, no dislocations have been found in all composition In(x)Ga(1-x)As NWs, even though massive stacking faults and twin planes are present. Indium rich NWs show more zinc-blende and Ga-rich NWs exhibit dominantly wurtzite polytype, as confirmed by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and photoluminescence spectra. Solar cells fabricated using an n-type In(0.3)Ga(0.7)As NW array on a p-type Si(111) substrate with a ∼ 2.2% area coverage, operates at an open circuit voltage, V(oc), and a short circuit current density, J(sc), of 0.37 V and 12.9 mA/cm(2), respectively. This work represents the first systematic report on direct 1D heteroepitaxy of ternary In(x)Ga(1-x)As NWs on silicon substrate in a wide composition/bandgap range that can be used for wafer-scale monolithic heterogeneous integration for high performance photovoltaics.

Topics: Arsenicals; Electromagnetic Fields; Gallium; Indium; Light; Materials Testing; Nanostructures; Particle Size; Silicon

An electrically pumped InAs/GaAs quantum dot laser on a Si substrate has been demonstrated. The double-hetero laser structure was grown on a GaAs substrate by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition and layer-transferred onto a Si substrate by GaAs/Si wafer bonding mediated by a 380-nm-thick Au-Ge-Ni alloy layer. This broad-area Fabry-Perot laser exhibits InAs quantum dot ground state lasing at 1.31 microm at room temperature with a threshold current density of 600 A/cm(2).

Topics: Arsenicals; Equipment Design; Equipment Failure Analysis; Gallium; Indium; Lasers, Solid-State; Quantum Dots; Silicon

Room temperature, continuous-wave lasing in a quantum dot photonic crystal nanocavity on a Si substrate has been demonstrated by optical pumping. The laser was an air-bridge structure of a two-dimensional photonic crystal GaAs slab with InAs quantum dots inside on a Si substrate fabricated through wafer bonding and layer transfer. This surface-emitting laser exhibited emission at 1.3 microm with a threshold absorbed power of 2 microW, the lowest out of any type of lasers on silicon.

Topics: Arsenicals; Computer-Aided Design; Equipment Design; Equipment Failure Analysis; Gallium; Indium; Lasers, Semiconductor; Nanotechnology; Quantum Dots; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Silicon; Temperature

Excitons in quantum dots manifest a lower-energy spin-forbidden "dark" state below a spin-allowed "bright" state; this splitting originates from electron-hole (e-h) exchange interactions, which are strongly enhanced by quantum confinement. The e-h exchange interaction may have both a short-range and a long-range component. Calculating numerically the e-h exchange energies from atomistic pseudopotential wave functions, we show here that in direct-gap quantum dots (such as InAs) the e-h exchange interaction is dominated by the long-range component, whereas in indirect-gap quantum dots (such as Si) only the short-range component survives. As a result, the exciton dark/bright splitting scales as 1/R(2) in InAs dots and 1/R(3) in Si dots, where R is the quantum-dot radius.

Topics: Arsenicals; Electrons; Indium; Quantum Dots; Semiconductors; Silicon

The monolithic integration of epitaxially-grown InGaAs/GaAs self-organized quantum dot lasers with hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a:Si-H) waveguides on silicon substrates is demonstrated. Hydrogenated amorphous silicon waveguides, formed by plasma-enhanced-chemical-vapor deposition (PECVD), exhibit a propagation loss of approximately 10 dB/cm at a wavelength of 1.05 microm. The laser-waveguide coupling, with coupling coefficient of 22%, is achieved through a 3.2 microm-width groove etched by focused-ion-beam (FIB) milling which creates high-quality etched GaAs facets.

Topics: Arsenicals; Equipment Design; Equipment Failure Analysis; Fiber Optic Technology; Gallium; Hydrogen; Indium; Lasers, Semiconductor; Quantum Dots; Silicon; Systems Integration