Abstract
The III–V compound semiconductors exhibit superb electronic and optoelectronic properties. Traditionally, closely lattice-matched epitaxial substrates have been required for the growth of high-quality single-crystal III–V thin films and patterned microstructures. To remove this materials constraint, here we introduce a growth mode that enables direct writing of single-crystalline III–V's on amorphous substrates, thus further expanding their utility for various applications. The process utilizes templated liquid-phase crystal growth that results in user-tunable, patterned micro and nanostructures of single-crystalline III–V's of up to tens of micrometres in lateral dimensions. InP is chosen as a model material system owing to its technological importance. The patterned InP single crystals are configured as high-performance transistors and photodetectors directly on amorphous SiO2 growth substrates, with performance matching state-of-the-art epitaxially grown devices. The work presents an important advance towards universal integration of III–V's on application-specific substrates by direct growth.
Highlights
The III–V compound semiconductors exhibit superb electronic and optoelectronic properties
Indium phosphide is chosen as a model III–V material system owing to its importance in a wide variety of fields, from high-speed electronics to lasers and photovoltaics[5,7,13,23]
For templated liquid-phase (TLP) growth of InP, indium metal is first lithographically patterned onto a Si/SiO2 or glass substrate with a thin (1–10 nm) MoOx nucleation layer, and subsequently encapsulated by evaporated SiOx (Supplementary Fig. 1)
Summary
The III–V compound semiconductors exhibit superb electronic and optoelectronic properties. Closely lattice-matched epitaxial substrates have been required for the growth of high-quality single-crystal III–V thin films and patterned microstructures To remove this materials constraint, here we introduce a growth mode that enables direct writing of single-crystalline III–V’s on amorphous substrates, further expanding their utility for various applications. For GaN, in particular, the usage of ‘pre-orienting’ layers to conduct local hetero-epitaxy has been demonstrated[21,22] While such approaches have resulted in broadening the scope and functionality of various electronic materials with unique properties, direct growth of single-crystalline semiconductors with ‘user-defined’ geometries and dimensions on amorphous substrates has yet to be demonstrated. Grown SiO2 and glass are selected as examples of amorphous materials on which TLP crystal growth can be performed
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