The Department of Physics Colloquium Series Presents

Dr. Bruce "Chip" Claflin

Development of (Si)GeSn for Low-Cost Infrared Sensing

The (Si)GeSn material system is an emerging technology for low cost, integrated mid- and long-wave (MWIR & LWIR) infrared sensing. This is the only all-group-IV material which has a direct optical bandgap, promising the potential for production of efficient emitters and detectors. However, a large lattice mismatch between these alloys and Si substrates as well as low solubility of Sn in Ge present significant challenges to thin film deposition and requires low growth temperatures. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has developed a unique remote plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RPECVD) tool and process to address these challenges and produce high quality (Si)GeSn samples. This talk will provide details about this tool and process as well as structural, optical, and electrical characteristics of the resulting materials.

This colloquium is supported, in part, by the NMSU/UCSB Partnership for Research and Education in Materials (PREM), award no. DMR-2423992.