; Silicon material has been the dominant semiconductor for electronic devices for more than four decades. However, there is now a growing need to integrate optoelectronics into the state-of-the-art Si-based digital electronics. Electro-optical devices, such as light-emitting diodes and photo-detectors based on combinations of III-V semiconductor structures conjugated with Si substrates have been investigated and demonstrated. Although III-V semiconductors provide higher device performances, incorporating them into the well-established Si technology is difficult and expensive. It is therefore desirable to search an active material directly integrated on Si substrate. Owing to their adjustable band gap and compatibility with Si technology, Ge/Si heterostructures are under extensive study to fabricate optical devices that extend the range of applications of Si-based devices. Especially with continuous shrinking of device dimensions, the SiGe nano-technique is one of the novel technologies need to be developed in present semiconductor industry. In this project, by the use of comparably low etching-rate of Ge nanodots as nano-masks, a method is developed to fabricate large-area uniform metal-silicide nanodot field-emitters. First, the investigation on the growth of high-density uniform Ge nanodots using C2H4 mediations is carried out by the ultra-high vacuum chemical vapor deposition (UHV/CVD) system. The selective-etching and metallization processes are then performed to fabricate various pyramidal metal-silicide nanodot emitters over large area. The electron field-emission properties of these silicide nanodot emitters are measured using a scanning-probe field-emission system. The research will be conducted on investigation on the effects of microstructures, geometries, and work functions of metal-silicide nanodots on their field-emission characteristics. Finally, the optimal process parameters of silicide nanodot arrays for the applications on field-emitter display will also be established. The technique in this project is considerably compatible with the existing mature Si-based technology. The related results will provide useful information to integrate the low-cost field-emitter arrays with excellent field-emission properties into the Si-based electronics. ; 研究期間 9701 ~ 9710
