Investigation of Novel Semiconductor Heterostructure Systems: I. Cerium Oxide/Silicon Heterostructures. II. 6.1 Å Semiconductor-Based Avalanche Photodiodes

Author: Preisler, Edward James

Year: 2003

Degree: Dissertation (Ph.D.)

Advisor: McGill, Thomas C.

Committee Members: McGill, Thomas C.; Vahala, Kerry J.; Yeh, Nai-Chang; Painter, Oskar J.; Tombrello, Thomas A.

Option: Applied Physics

DOI: 10.7907/59X1-WQ68

Abstract

The work presented in this thesis concerns the development of two different semiconductor heterostructure technologies.

Part I describes research in the CeO2/silicon heterostructure system. Details are presented concerning the growth of CeO2 on silicon and the reactions that take place at the CeO2/silicon interface. The evolution of this interface as a function of annealing temperature and annealing ambient are studied via in situ x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Studies of metal-CeO2-silicon capacitors are also presented which help to determine the usefulness of this oxide as an alternative gate dielectric for silicon-based device applications.

Part II involves research into the fabrication of avalanche photodiodes (APD's) utilizing the 6.1 A semiconductor system. Certain alloys of Al_xGa_(1-x)Sb are shown to greatly favor hole multiplication which is beneficial for both noise characteristics and gain-bandwidth product. Further, details are presented on the current investigation into using 6.1 A superlattices to acheive even more desirable detector performance.

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