- 13 September 2006 -

Research InP selective area epitaxy

Selective area epitaxy (SAE) is an important technique for electronic and photonic device fabrication, and for the monolithic integration of these devices. In Microelectronics Journal [Vol 37, Issue 10, Pages 1056-1063] a large-scale parametric study of InP deposition on patterned substrates is detailed by Jonathan E. Greenspan, Dept of Electrical and Computer Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

This work represents the first comprehensive study, which reports on the impact of all major growth parameters on SAE films. His SAE is the process of locally depositing a semiconductor film on a substrate patterned with an inert masking material. During MOCVD the build up of precursors over the mask causes material to diffuse into the open areas leading to a growth rate increase. The present work is a single comprehensive study, which reports on the impact of all major MOCVD parameters to SAE InP films. The physics of SAE was explored to reveal brand new insight into previously unexplainable phenomena by analyzing grown films deposited over the broad range of parameters used in this study.

The study, which consisted of a large series of growth experiments, was designed to deliver design rules for the application of SAE to electronic and photonic integration. In each experiment, an InP film was deposited by MOCVD over a patterned InP substrate using unique growth conditions. The films were subsequently characterized by SEM and AFM imaging, and by DEKTAK surface profiling.



AFM image - the morphology is typical of the mesa structures selectively grown in the gaps. The centre is flat while “rabbit ears” are seen adjacent to the masks. The horizontal scaling is approximately 10 times the vertical scaling.

Corresponding Author Contact: jongreenspan@yahoo.ca

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