Low-temperature epitaxial growth of Ge on Si for CMOS Image Sensors

The demand for CMOS image sensors (CIS) covering visible to short-wave infrared is growing in a variety of applications, such as customer imaging, computer vision for self-driving, and surface metrology for defect identification. However, the limited absorption range of silicon (400 nm – 1100 nm) makes it less efficient for detecting wavelengths beyond the visible and near-infrared spectrum. This project aims to overcome silicon's limitations by integrating a germanium layer with silicon CIS using a single-step low-temperature (< 300 °C) process, thus allowing for the incorporation either through post-processing or at the back-end-of-line (BEOL) of a CMOS flow.
You will work under the supervision of two PhD students and will be part of the IS group.

Assignment

In this thesis project, you will:

1. Review literature of state-of-the-art low-temperature processes for epitaxial growth of semiconductor layers.
2. Define the optimal parameters, e.g., layer thickness, for the experiments.
3. Fabricate and optimize your design in EKL.
4. Test the device and interpret data results, leveraging electrical testing setups in ECTM.

Requirements

Recommended Background (but not all is required - you can learn in the project!) :

• Semiconductor physics
• Material science
• Cleanroom fabrication
• Excitement about unusual physical phenomena in semiconductors!

Contact

Last modified: 2024-09-03