InAs nano-ridges and thin films grown on (001) silicon substrates

Abstract

Monolithic integration of InAs related devices on (001) Si platforms offers potential to extend integrated Si photonics to the mid-infrared (MIR). Here, we systematically studied the hetero-epitaxial growth of in-plane InAs nano-ridges and coalesced thin films on CMOS-standard (001) Si wafers. We started with the growth and optimization of in-plane InAs nano-ridges inside nano-scale Si trenches and developed a three-step growth procedure with a reduced growth rate to obtain uniform InAs nano-ridges with excellent crystalline qualities. We then developed a coalescence process for the optimized InAs nano-ridges to evolve into high quality continuous thin films. In the parametric growth study, we found that a low coalescence rate results in the formation of large InAs islands, while a high coalescence rate promotes the creation of uniform InAs thin films. These InAs/Si templates could serve as virtual substrates for the growth of light emitters and detectors in MIR Si photonics.