RTCVD GROWTH AND APPLICATIONS OF EPITAXIAL SI1-XGEX ALLOYS

Rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition (RTCVD) is a competing technology for the growth of Si1-xGex strained-layer structures for the development of silicon-based heterojunctions. High-quality epitaxial films with growth temperatures as low as 600-degrees-C and 4.5 nm-period superlattices have been demonstrated without the use of ultrahigh-vacuum techniques. Narrow-bandgap-base heterojunction bipolar transistors made of Si/Si1-xGex/Si have been shown to have superior characteristics compared to all-silicon homojunction devices, and extend the scaling limits of bipolar transistors. Finally, RTCVD strained Si1-xGex films exhibit well-resolved band-edge photoluminescence-the first step on the way to developing silicon-based light-emitting devices.