GeSn materials have attracted considerable attention for their tunable band structures and high carrier mobilities, which serve well for future photonic and electronic applications. This research presents a novel method to incorporate Sn content as high as 18% into GeSn layers grown at 285–320 °C by using SnCl₄ and GeH₄ precursors. A series of characterizations were performed to study the material quality, strain, surface roughness, and optical properties of GeSn layers. The Sn content could be calculated using lattice mismatch parameters provided by X-ray analysis. The strain in GeSn layers was modulated from fully strained to partially strained by etching Ge buffer into Ge/GeSn heterostructures . In this study, two categories of samples were prepared when the Ge buffer was either laterally etched onto Si wafers, or vertically etched Ge/GeSnOI wafers which bonded to the oxide. In the latter case, the Ge buffer was initially etched step-by-step for the strain relaxation study. Meanwhile, the Ge/GeSn heterostructure in the first group of samples was patterned into the form of micro-disks. The Ge buffer was selectively etched by using a CF₄/O₂ gas mixture using a plasma etch tool. Fully or partially relaxed GeSn micro-disks showed photoluminescence (PL) at room temperature. PL results showed that red-shift was clearly observed from the GeSn micro-disk structure, indicating that the compressive strain in the as-grown GeSn material was partially released. Our results pave the path for the growth of high quality GeSn layers with high Sn content, in addition to methods for modulating the strain for lasing and detection of short-wavelength infrared at room temperature.

Any departure from graphene’s flatness leads to the emergence of artificial gauge fields that act on the motion of the Dirac fermions through an associated pseudomagnetic field. Here, we demonstrate the tunability of strong gauge fields in nonlocal experiments using a large planar graphene sheet that conforms to the deformation of a piezoelectric layer by a surface acoustic wave. The acoustic wave induces a longitudinal and a giant synthetic Hall voltage in the absence of external magnetic fields. The superposition of a synthetic Hall potential and a conventional Hall voltage can annihilate the sample’s transverse potential at large external magnetic fields. Surface acoustic waves thus provide a promising and facile avenue for the exploitation of gauge fields in large planar graphene systems.

In this study, the integration of SiGe selective epitaxy on source/drain regions and high-k and metal gate for 22 nm node bulk pMOS transistors has been presented. Selective Si1-x Ge x growth (0.35 ≤ × ≤ 0.40) with boron concentration of 1–3 × 1020 cm−3 was used to elevate the source/drain. The main focus was optimization of the growth parameters to improve the epitaxial quality where the high-resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) measurement data provided the key information about Ge profile in the transistor structure. The induced strain by SiGe layers was directly measured by x-ray on the array of transistors. In these measurements, the boron concentration was determined from the strain compensation of intrinsic and boron-doped SiGe layers. Finally, the characteristic of transistors were measured and discussed showing good device performance.

We demonstrate a wet etching method to reduce the thickness of thin germanium-on-insulator (GOI) films using a dilute solution (a NH₄OH:H₂O₂:H₂O 2:1:4000 mixture) at a low temperature (5°C). The etch rate and thickness uniformity were well controlled. The root mean square roughness after wet etching was less than 0.5 nm and did not degrade compared with the original sample. Finally, back gate junctionless transistors were fabricated using the GOI wafers with 15-nm-thick Ge films, thinned by the developed method. The transistors had good I_on/I_off ratio and mobility qualities, indicating that the wet etching process effectively thinned the Ge films.