Antimonide-based membranes synthesis integration and strain engineering

Abstract

Antimonide compounds are fabricated in membrane form to enable materials combinations that cannot be obtained by direct growth and to support strain fields that are not possible in the bulk. InAs/(InAs,Ga)Sb type II superlattices (T2SLs) with different in-plane geometries are transferred from a GaSb substrate to a variety of hosts, including Si, polydimethylsiloxane, and metalcoated substrates. Electron microscopy shows structural integrity of transferred membranes with thickness of 100 nm to 2.5 µm and lateral sizes from 24 × 24 µm 2 to 1 × 1 cm 2 . Electron microscopy reveals the excellent quality of the membrane interface with the new host. The crystalline structure of the T2SL is not altered by the fabrication process, and a minimal elastic relaxation occurs during the release step, as demonstrated by X-ray diffraction and mechanical modeling. A method to locally strain-engineer antimonide-based membranes is theoretically illustrated. Continuum elasticity theory shows that up to ∼3.5% compressive strain can be induced in an InSb quantum well through external bending. Photoluminescence spectroscopy and characterization of an IR photodetector based on InAs/GaSb bonded to Si demonstrate the functionality of transferred membranes in the IR range.antimonide | membranes | transfer | infrared | integration E pitaxially grown Sb compounds have recently received increasing attention as functional layers in IR detectors (1-4) and sources (5-9), high-mobility transistors (10-12), resonant tunneling diodes (13-15), and low-power analog and digital electronics (10,16). In this scenario we establish a versatile process to release and transfer Sb-based heterostructures from their epitaxial growth substrate to any host, resulting in fabrication of freestanding membranes (17,18). Despite the numerous demonstrations of membrane technology applied to III-V semiconductors (18-26), fabrication and detailed characterization of Sb compounds in membrane form has not been reported. For the purpose of this work we investigate InAs/(Ga,InAs)Sb type II superlattices (T2SLs) and AlInSb/InSb quantum wells (QWs), but our approach is readily applicable to any Sb-containing heterostructure. We demonstrate that wet and dry techniques (17, 18) (i.e., transfer in liquid or mediated by a stamp, respectively) yield successful transfer of T2SL membranes with thickness ranging from 100 nm to 2.5 µm, and lateral sizes going from 24 × 24 µm 2 to 1 × 1 cm 2 . We bond InAs/(InAs,Ga)Sb T2SLs to a large variety of hosts, including elastomers and rigid substrates, and both insulating and semiconducting substrates. Electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) show that the crystal structure and the strain state of the materials are minimally altered during the release and transfer process. Mechanical modeling establishes that elastic strain up to ∼3.5% can be imparted in nanoscale-thickness AlInSb/InSb/AlInSb membranes by external bending. Finally, we demonstrate the functionality of Sbbased superlattices bonded to Si via photoluminescence (PL) and cha...

All‐Group IV Transferable Membrane Mid‐Infrared Photodetectors

“…Broadband membrane PDs are among the successfully implemented devices achieved using multiple materials including Si, [ 16,17 ] Ge, [ 18–20 ] SiGe, [ 21 ] InP, [ 22 ] InGaAs, [ 23 ] and Sb‐based superlattices. [ 10,24 ] However, while these devices mainly operate at near infrared (NIR) and short‐wave infrared wavelengths or at a longer THz wavelengths, developing membrane PDs operating in the mid‐infrared (MIR) range has been severely limited by the lack of suitable material systems. [ 24 ] The ability to develop transferable MIR PDs using semiconductor released membranes is highly attractive to exploit all attributes of this platform in addition to circumventing the high‐cost and limited integration of the current technologies that are based on InSb, PbSe, and HgCdTe semiconductors.…”

“…[ 10,24 ] However, while these devices mainly operate at near infrared (NIR) and short‐wave infrared wavelengths or at a longer THz wavelengths, developing membrane PDs operating in the mid‐infrared (MIR) range has been severely limited by the lack of suitable material systems. [ 24 ] The ability to develop transferable MIR PDs using semiconductor released membranes is highly attractive to exploit all attributes of this platform in addition to circumventing the high‐cost and limited integration of the current technologies that are based on InSb, PbSe, and HgCdTe semiconductors. [ 25–33 ] To simultaneously address these challenges, herein we developed all‐group IV membranes using strain‐engineered GeSn, integrated them in the fabrication of PDs, and demonstrated their operation at room‐temperature in the MIR range.…”

Mid-Infrared Tunable Laser-Based Broadband Fingerprint Absorption Spectroscopy for Trace Gas Sensing: A Review

“…Few commercial products have been reported, which leads to the restriction of such detectors' application in MIR detection. However, recent advances in this field such as new device-chip hybridization [107], antimonide-based membrane synthesis integration, and strain engineering [108] may be scalable methods for the fabrication of commercially available heterostructure detectors.…”

Assembly and Self‐Assembly of Nanomembrane Materials—From 2D to 3D

“…In a typical process, the released nanomembrane was transferred to water first (see the photograph in panel (i) of Figure b) . The target substrate was then dipped into the water and the nanomembrane adhered to it through capillary action . However, if the nanomembrane needs to be transferred accurately to certain position, an improved dry transfer process should be engaged and Roger and co‐workers thus developed a “transfer printing” process .…”

“…The assembly of nanomembranes with unique physical properties also have application potentials in photonics and optoelectronics . The transfer printing process provides the possibility of assembling nanomembrane into novel 3D stack structures for optical applications .…”