Patent — available for licensing
Epitaxy of SiGe and Other Compound Semiconductors
A NASA invention available to explore as a licensing opportunity.
About this technology
Overview
NASA engineers have developed a suite of technologies that enable super-hetero-epitaxial growth of silicon germanium (SiGe) and other compound semiconductors on sapphire and other trigonal and hexagonal structure substrate wafer materials. A focus for NASA has been on the development of methods to make SiGe crystal materials for the manufacture of advanced semiconductor devices for aerospace applications. This suite of technologies, however, is even more broadly applicable to making various semiconductors of Group IV, III-V, and II-VI compounds. The technologies include super-hetero-epitaxial growth using carefully engineered crystal structures/orientations combined with sputtering and control substrate heating. Also included are novel x-ray diffraction methods for detecting and mapping crystal twin defects that can arise during super-hetero-epitaxial growth. The specific case of growing highly twinned SiGe crystal layer structures for use in making high temperature thermoelectric devices is enabled as well.