NER: Efficient Light Emitters Based on Three-Dimensional GeSi Nanostructures

Abstract

Proposal Number: ECS - 0209422

Principal Investigator: Leonid Tsybeskov

Institution: New Jersey Institute of Technology

Title: NER: Efficient Light Emitters Based on Three-Dimensional GeSi Nanostructures

This proposal was received in response to Nanoscale Science and Engineering initiative, NSF 01-157, category NER. As frequency of modern processors approach a GHz domain, the search for an alternative interconnects has intensified. Thus, within the next ten years a new interconnects technology must be developed which can support the exponential growth of processor speed experienced over the last three decades. Several alternative interconnects technologies are being pursued including transmission lines and integrated, high speed opto-couplers. The indirect band structure and poor efficiency of radiative recombination in major semiconducting materials (Si, Ge, SiGe), have limited the last approach.

Despite the fact that silicon and germanium are the most studied semiconductors, not one but several totally surprising discoveries have been recently reported. Examples include visible photoluminescence from Si nanocrystals and different forms of self-organization in Ge nanocrystals grown on a Si substrate. This project is aimed to find links between structural and optical properties in three-dimensional SiGe nanostructures, to better understand and enhance conditions leading to the domination of direct carrier recombination, and to explore feasibility of novel devices utilizing efficient light emission in these nanostructures.

The project will be performed at New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, NJ in close collaboration with industrial partners (Hewlett-Packard and IBM). The educational part of this project includes development at NJIT, a public research institution, in a diverse major metropolitan area a comprehensive, multidisciplinary program focused on nanotechnology and nanoscience.