Arrayed Nanocrystallization of Semiconductors

Stanford University, Stanford CA

Investigators

Abstract

Current evolution of semiconductor integrated circuit technology suffers from the topological tyranny of requiring all active devices to be in one plane: the surface of the single crystal wafer. Because transistors can now be so small (e.g. 18nm channels), the lateral dimension of the crystal needed for one transistor is now approaching the dimensions of assemblies of atoms whose properties can be computed ab initio and such nanocrystals might well be successfully synthesized on suitably prepared surfaces. As an initial experiment we will form islands of nanotemplates on an amorphous substrate, such as deposited SiO2, by electron beam patterning of a Langmuir Blodgett film with a suitable lattice period. Then we will explore the translation of these templates in single crystal semiconductor islands. The complementary calculations will be to assess the competing forces (on the deposited atoms) favoring sites in the periodic template and those favoring sites in the underlying amorphous substrate. Calculations will also be performed to conduct molecular design of the LB molecules, as well as to study the chemistry of growing epitaxial semiconductor films on ordered molecular monolayers.