Direct wafer bonding of highly conductive GaSb/GaInAs and GaSb/GaInP heterojunctions prepared by argon-beam surface activation

Journal Article · Sun May 15 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. A, Vacuum, Surfaces and Films

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1116/1.4947118· OSTI ID:22592891

Predan, Felix; Reinwand, Dirk; Cariou, Romain; Niemeyer, Markus; Dimroth, Frank ^[1]

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1. Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Heidenhofstraße 2, 79110 Freiburg (Germany)

The authors present a low-temperature wafer bonding process for the formation of electrically conductive n-GaSb/n-Ga{sub 0.79}In{sub 0.21}As and n-GaSb/n-Ga{sub 0.32}In{sub 0.68}P heterojunctions. The surfaces are deoxidized by sputter-etching with an argon-beam and bonded in ultrahigh vacuum. The sputtering behavior was investigated for each material, revealing a distinct selective sputtering characteristic for Ga{sub 0.32}In{sub 0.68}P. According to these findings, the settings for the bonding process were chosen. The mechanical and electrical properties of the wafer bonds were studied. Fully bonded 2 in. wafer pairs were found for both material combinations exhibiting high bond energies, which are comparable to the binding energies in the semiconductors. Furthermore, bond resistances below 5 mΩ cm{sup 2} could be reached, which are in the range of the lowest resistances that have been reported for wafer bonded heterojunctions. This speaks, together with the high bond energies, for a high amount of covalent bonds at the interfaces. These promising bond characteristics make the integration of antimonides with arsenides or phosphides by wafer bonding attractive for various optoelectronic applications such as multijunction solar cells.

• OSTI ID: 22592891
• Journal Information: Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. A, Vacuum, Surfaces and Films, Vol. 34, Issue 3; Other Information: (c) 2016 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0734-2101
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ARGON
BEAMS
BINDING ENERGY
BONDING
CHEMICAL BONDS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
COVALENCE
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ETCHING
GALLIUM ANTIMONIDES
GALLIUM ARSENIDES
HETEROJUNCTIONS
INDIUM ARSENIDES
PHOSPHIDES
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SOLAR CELLS
SPUTTERING
SURFACES
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0065-0273 K