Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 13
Claim 1
Independent Claim
108 words
A method of fabricating a compositional semiconductor device comprising a quantum well wire or quantum dot superlattice structure, in particular a device selected from the group comprising lasers, photodiodes, resonant tunnelling transistors, resonant tunnelling diodes, far infrared detectors, far infrared emitters, high electron mobility transistors, solar cells, optical modulators, optically bistable devices and bipolar transistors, by epitaxial growth of the superlattice structure on a semiconductor substrate, characterised in that the epitaxial growth is effected on a {311}, {211}, {111} or {110} substrate; and in that the length and/or width of the semiconductor device are restricted to less than 500 Å and in particular to 300 Å or less.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
38 words
A method of fabricating a compositional semiconductor device in accordance with claim 1, characterised in that the superlattice is grown on a {311} substrate to form channels oriented along [233] thus forming an as-grown quantum well wire superlattice.
Claim 3
Independent Claim
29 words
A method in accordance with either of the preceding claims characterised in that the compositional semiconductor device comprises either a III-V or a II-VI or a IV material system.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
23 words
A method in accordance with any one of the preceding claims wherein the material system of the semiconductor device comprises GaAs/AlAs or GaAs/AlGaAs.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
24 words
A method in accordance with any one of the preceding claims 1 to 3, wherein the material system of the semiconductor device comprises Si/Ge.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
67 words
A method in accordance with claim 5 wherein the device comprises a superlattice structure in its active region, the superlattice structure comprising an alternating arrangement of Si and Ge layers with each layer having a thickness corresponding to a few monolayers in the range from 1 to 18, and more particularly the superlattice comprising an alternating structure of six monolayers of silicon and four monolayers of germanium.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
45 words
A method in accordance with claim 3 wherein the device comprises in its active region an alternating arrangement of layers of distinct materials of said material system, with each layer having a thickness corresponding to a few monolayers in the range from 1 to 20.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
17 words
A compositional semiconductor device fabricated in accordance with the method of any one of the preceding claims.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
38 words
A compositional semiconductor device in accordance with claim 8 comprising a (311) GaAs substrate with at least one period of a quantum well wire GaAs/AlAs superlattice grown thereon with GaAs and AlAs channels oriented along the [233] direction.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
67 words
A compositional semiconductor device in accordance with claim 9, wherein the structure has a stepped surface with lateral periodicity of about 32 Å and a step height of about 10.2 Å, the stepped surface comprising (311) terraces of about 4 Å with and two sets of (33 1 ¯ ) and (313) facets corresponding to upward and downward steps having said step height of about 10.2 Å.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
187 words
A compositional semiconductor device in accordance with claim 8 and in the form of a laser, the device comprising in sequence an n-type (311)A GaAs substrate, a buffer layer or buffer layer system, an n-type layer of Ga 1-x Al x As with x e.g. = 0.4 and with a thickness of the order of several thousand Å, typically µ, a superlattice comprising a first layer of undoped Ga 1-y Al y As with y e.g. = 0.2 and with a thickness of the order of 60 Å or less, a second layer of undoped Ga 1-z Al z As with e.g. 0.1 > z > 0 and with a thickness of the order of 60 Å or less, and a third layer of undoped Ga 1-y Al y As of a thickness of the order of 60 Å or less, a p-doped layer of Ga 1-x Al x As of a thickness of the order of several thousand Å, typically 1 µ and a cap layer of p-type GaAs, there being contacts provided on said cap layer and on the base of said n-type GaAs substrate.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
33 words
A compositional semiconductor device in accordance with any one of the preceding claims 8 to 10 and having a length and/or a width less than 500 Å and preferably less than 300 Å.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
42 words
A compositional semiconductor in accordance with claim 11, wherein the length of said laser device is of the order of magnitude of µm, preferably of several hundred µm, and the width is less than 500 Å and preferably less than 300 Å.