| The beginning of the modern microelectronics industry can be traced back to an invention made in 1947 when Bardeen and Brattain created the first semiconductor switch, called a transistor. Several other important discoveries followed; however, two of the more significant were (i) the development of the first planar process using silicon dioxide (SiO2) as a mask for diffusions into silicon by Frosch in 1955, and (ii) the subsequent integration of several transistors in tiny circuits by Kilby in 1958.; Due to the superior quality of the SiO2-silicon interface, Si-based metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistors have primarily been used in integrated circuits. Until recently, compound semiconductors did not have a native oxide of sufficient quality to create similar MOS transistors. In 1990, research performed by Professor Holonyak and his group at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has led to a high-quality, stable, and insulating native oxide created from aluminum-containing compound semiconductor alloys.; This study investigates native oxide films that are formed by the thermal oxidation of AlAs and InAlP epitaxial layers grown lattice-matched on GaAs substrates using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The primary goal is to evaluate how these native oxides can help form novel device structures and transistors. To qualify the material properties of these native oxide films, we have used several characterization techniques including photoluminescence, cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Additionally, we have performed leakage current and capacitance-voltage measurements to evaluate the electrical characteristics of the native oxide-semiconductor interface.; The kinetics of the thermal oxidation process for both the surface oxidation of InAlP and lateral oxidation of AlAs are studied and contrasted. Aided by this knowledge, we have created a sealed-interface local oxidation (SILO) isolation technique and high-contrast Bragg reflectors. Several n -channel GaAs native oxide-based transistors were also fabricated and tested. These depletion-mode devices are similar to silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) transistors where the gate oxide is formed from InAlP and the insulating substrate is replaced by an AlAs laterally oxidized epilayer. Our results indicate that the thermal oxidation process can influence transistor performance, and a theory explaining this effect is provided. |
