Descripción del proyecto
El crecimiento epitaxial vertical de microcristales en silicio estampado produce propiedades sin precedentes
El silicio seguirá siendo el caballo de batalla de muchos dispositivos microelectrónicos y microfotónicos. La integración de otros materiales semiconductores en el sustrato de silicio se consigue a menudo mediante crecimiento epitaxial, creando una fina película. El proyecto microSPIRE, financiado con fondos europeos, desarrollará un nuevo método de deposición, la heteroepitaxia vertical, que aprovecha el patrón de los sustratos de silicio convencionales y la deposición epitaxial. Esto permitirá el autoensamblaje de matrices de microcristales epitaxiales alargados verticalmente de germanio y arseniuro de galio con propiedades estructurales y electrónicas sin parangón. El enfoque de microSPIRE se demostrará con innovadores detectores monofotónicos en el régimen infrarrojo y se ensayará para la obtención de imágenes mamarias y la evaluación óptica del riesgo de cáncer de mama.
Objetivo
µSPIRE aims at establishing a technological platform for homo- and hetero- structure based photonic and electronic devices using the self-assembling of epitaxial crystals on patterned Si substrates.
Emerging micro-electronic and photonic devices strongly require the integration on Si of a variety of semiconducting materials such as Ge, GaAs, GaN and SiC, in order to add novel functionalities to the Si platform. µSPIRE pursues this goal employing a novel deposition approach, which we termed vertical hetero-epitaxy (VHE). VHE exploits the patterning of conventional Si substrates, in combination with epitaxial deposition, to attain the self-assembly of arrays of Ge and GaAs epitaxial micro-crystals elongated in the vertical direction, featuring structural and electronic properties unparalleled by “conventional” epitaxial growth.
As a concrete demonstration of VHE potentialities, we will deliver a complete set of novel photon counting detectors: VHE micro-crystals will be used as the elementary microcells for single-photon detectors with performances far beyond those of current state-of-the-art devices, namely:
- High photon detection efficiency (> 80%), thanks to the use of several µm thick micro-crystals;
- High photon-number-resolving capability, thanks to the high density of micro-crystals;
- High fill-factor (> 90%), thanks to the almost complete surface coverage attained by VHE;
- Extended sensitivity from visible (350 – 900 nm) to NIR (800 – 1800 nm) and MIR (up to 10µm), thanks to the integration on Si of Ge and GaAs quantum wells.
As a first action towards real applications, the Si and Ge devices will be tested on phantoms closely mimicking breast tissue in order to assess the improvement in signal level with respect to state of the art detectors, and investigate the potential extension to a presently unexplored, but appealing, long-wavelength spectral range (1500nm+) of breast imaging and optical assessment of breast cancer risk.
Ámbito científico
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringcomputer hardwarequantum computers
- natural sciencesphysical scienceselectromagnetism and electronicssemiconductivity
- natural sciencesmathematicspure mathematicsgeometry
- natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistrymetalloids
- natural sciencesphysical sciencestheoretical physicsparticle physicsphotons
Programa(s)
Convocatoria de propuestas
Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoriaConvocatoria de subcontratación
H2020-FETOPEN-1-2016-2017
Régimen de financiación
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinador
20133 Milano
Italia