EPITAXIAL WIDE-BANDGAP SEMICONDUCTOR FILMS FOR IMPROVED DETECTORS AND ELECTRONICS

THIS RESEARCH PROJECT ADDRESSES THE DEMONSTRATION OF EPITAXIAL GROWTH, BY LASER ABLATION IN AN ULTRAHIGH VACUUM SYSTEM, OF HIGH QUALITY, WIDE-BANDGAP SEMICONDUCTOR FILMS ONTO HEATED SINGLE-CRYSTAL SILICON SUBSTRATES, FOLLOWED BY CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION (CVD) EPITAXIAL GROWTH OF SILICON ONTO THE WIDE-BANDGAP SEMICONDUCTOR. ON THE BASIS OF RECENT REPORTS OF SUCCESSFUL EPITAXIAL GROWTH OF CUBIC BORON NITRIDE ON SILICON, PHASE I FOCUSES ON BORON NITRIDE AS THE CANDIDATE WIDE-BANDGAP SEMICONDUCTOR. BOTH THE LASER-ABLATED EPITAXIAL WIDE-BANDGAP SEMICONDUCTOR FILMS AND THE CVD EPITAXIAL SILICON FILMS ARE BEING CHARACTERIZED FOR CRYSTAL QUALITY AND ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES. SUCCESS IN THIS PLANNED RESEARCH COULD OFFER TWO SIGNIFICANT ADVANCES IN DETECTOR ARRAY FOR THE SUPERCONDUCTING SUPER COLLIDER (SSC). IN THE FIRST CASE, CUBIC BORON NITRIDE MAY PROVIDE A DETECTOR MATERIAL WITH HIGHER RADIATION TOLERANCE AND A HIGHER SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO THAN A SILICON DETECTOR, LEADING TO BETTER SPATIAL RESOLUTION, IMPROVED TOLERANCE OF HIGH RADIATION LEVELS WHERE DETECTORS MUST BE CLOSE TO THE SOURCE, AND LONGER DETECTOR LIFE. IN THE SECOND CASE, SILICON-ON-INSULATOR STRUCTURES WITH CUBIC BORON NITRIDE AS THE INSULATING LAYER WOULD ENHANCE THE DETECTOR READOUT ELECTRONICS THROUGH SUPERIOR RADIATION HARDNESS, GREATER SPEED, AND IMPROVED POWER DISSIPATION COMBINED WITH LOWER POWER CONSUMPTION.