Project description
Hexagonal silicon–germanium structure could help squeeze light out of silicon chips
For more than half a century, silicon has been the raw material of choice in microelectronics. Emitting light from this material has been the holy grail in the microelectronics industry, as chips would become faster than ever. However, silicon, germanium and silicon–germanium alloys are all indirect band gap semiconductors that cannot emit light efficiently. Researchers’ efforts are now devoted to combining silicon and germanium in a hexagonal structure that can emit light, as it seems to have a direct band gap. The goal of the EU-funded Opto silicon project is to integrate light-emitting devices based on hexagonal silicon–germanium with existing silicon electronics and passive silicon photonics circuitry. The new technology could significantly improve computing performance while also reducing silicon wafer costs.
Objective
Our vision is to integrate light-emitting devices, based on hexagonal silicon-germanium (Hex-SiGe), with existing Si electronics and passive Si-photonics circuitry. This establishes a silicon-compatible technology platform, with full opto-electronic functionality.
Silicon dominates the electronics industry for more than half a century. However, silicon, germanium and SiGe-alloys are all indirect band gap semiconductors. Their inability to efficiently emit light has adversely shaped the semiconductor industry we know today. Accordingly, achieving efficient light emission from SiGe has been a holy grail in silicon technology for decades. Hexagonal crystal phase SiGe (Hex-SiGe) recently emerged as a new direct bandgap semiconductor with excellent light emission capabilities. Hex-SiGe will provide additional functionality like light generation (light emitting diode, laser), light amplification (semiconductor optical amplifier) and efficient light detection to silicon technology.
This project will focus on:
• The growth of device quality Hex-SiGe on silicon-on-insulator (SOI).
• Demonstration of opto-electronic functionality in Hex-SiGe, including a quantum well laser.
This new technology promises strongly improved performance in computing and sensing, while simultaneously reducing cost by mass production in existing silicon foundries.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
5612 AE Eindhoven
Netherlands