Buffer insensitive optoelectronic quality of InP-on-Si with templated liquid phase growth

Abstract

As Moore's law comes to an end, the search for additional integrated circuit functionality has shifted from scaling down lateral dimensions to combining multiple materials onto a single substrate. However, the quality of crystalline semiconductors is highly sensitive to the substrate upon which it is grown, preventing multiple materials from being directly grown on single substrates. To circumvent this challenge, many complex growth strategies have been developed, such as strain relaxation buffer-layers, nanostructure growth, and template selective epitaxy. However, even with these advanced growth techniques, the growth of manufacturable crystalline materials is still limited to crystalline surfaces. Here, the authors show that using templated liquid phase (TLP) growth, single crystalline indium phosphide on Si can be grown using a variety of buffers, both crystalline and amorphous. Moreover, by performing detailed optoelectronic characterization, the authors find that the quality of the grown material not only closely matches commercial single crystalline InP wafers but is also highly insensitive to the buffer layer used. This unique feature of TLP growth could enable the next generation of crystalline material integration.