Millisecond range liquid phase processing of nanowire structures

A key milestone for the next generation of high-performance microelectronic devices is the monolithic integration of germanium or III-V compound semiconductors with silicon technology. The incorporation of different functional optoelectronic elements on a single chip enables performance progress, which can overcome the downsizing limit in silicon technology. For example, the use of Ge or III-V compound semiconductors instead of silicon as a basic material in nanoelectronic would enable faster chips containing smaller transistors. Conventionally, the integration of III-V semiconductors or Ge with silicon is based on the heteroepitaxial growth of multi-layered structures on silicon or a variety of wafer bonding techniques [1]. Devices based on such structures combine the high carrier mobility and high luminescence efficiency of III-V semiconductors with the advantages of the well-developed silicon technology. On the other hand, the nearly 1D nanostructure of semiconductor nanowires offers a great potential for the future nanoelectronics. Silicon heteronanowires with integrated III-V segments are one of the most promising candidates for nanophotonic devices operating in the single-electron or single-photon regime [2]. Here we present the fundamental research on the physics of Ge micro- and nanostructures and III-V/Si hetero-nanowires to enable the integration of innovative Ge and III-V based devices for the main stream of Si CMOS technology. The proposed concept for the development, optimisation and fabrication of high-mobility channel materials is based on millisecond range explosive epitaxy performed with the flash lamp annealing (FLA) process.