Silicon Nanomembranes with Hybrid Crystal Orientations and Strain States.

Methods to integrate different crystal orientations, strain states, and compositions of semiconductors in planar and preferably flexible configurations may enable nontraditional sensing-, stimulating-, or communication-device applications. We combine crystalline-silicon nanomembranes, patterning, membrane transfer, and epitaxial growth to demonstrate planar arrays of different orientations and strain states of Si in a single membrane, which is then readily transferable to other substrates, including flexible supports. As examples, regions of Si(001) and Si(110) or strained Si(110) are combined to form a multicomponent, single substrate with high-quality narrow interfaces.

Single-Crystalline SrRuO3 Nanomembranes: A Platform for Flexible Oxide Electronics.

The field of oxide electronics has benefited from the wide spectrum of functionalities available to the ABO3 perovskites, and researchers are now employing defect engineering in single crystalline heterostructures to tailor properties. However, bulk oxide single crystals are not conducive to many types of applications, particularly those requiring mechanical flexibility. Here, we demonstrate the realization of an all-oxide, single-crystalline nanomembrane heterostructure.

Electronic Transport Properties of Epitaxial Si/SiGe Heterostructures Grown on Single-Crystal SiGe Nanomembranes.

To assess possible improvements in the electronic performance of two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) in silicon, SiGe/Si/SiGe heterostructures are grown on fully elastically relaxed single-crystal SiGe nanomembranes produced through a strain engineering approach. This procedure eliminates the formation of dislocations in the heterostructure. Top-gated Hall bar devices are fabricated to enable magnetoresistivity and Hall effect measurements.

Strain imaging of nanoscale semiconductor heterostructures with x-ray Bragg projection ptychography.

We report the imaging of nanoscale distributions of lattice strain and rotation in complementary components of lithographically engineered epitaxial thin film semiconductor heterostructures using synchrotron x-ray Bragg projection ptychography (BPP). We introduce a new analysis method that enables lattice rotation and out-of-plane strain to be determined independently from a single BPP phase reconstruction, and we apply it to two laterally adjacent, multiaxially stressed materials in a prototype channel device. These results quantitatively agree with mechanical modeling and demonstrate the ability of BPP to map out-of-plane lattice dilatation, a parameter critical to the performance of electronic materials.

Fast flexible electronics with strained silicon nanomembranes.

Fast flexible electronics operating at radio frequencies (>1 GHz) are more attractive than traditional flexible electronics because of their versatile capabilities, dramatic power savings when operating at reduced speed and broader spectrum of applications. Transferrable single-crystalline Si nanomembranes (SiNMs) are preferred to other materials for flexible electronics owing to their unique advantages. Further improvement of Si-based device speed implies significant technical and economic advantages.

Direct-bandgap light-emitting germanium in tensilely strained nanomembranes.

Silicon, germanium, and related alloys, which provide the leading materials platform of electronics, are extremely inefficient light emitters because of the indirect nature of their fundamental energy bandgap. This basic materials property has so far hindered the development of group-IV photonic active devices, including diode lasers, thereby significantly limiting our ability to integrate electronic and photonic functionalities at the chip level. Here we show that Ge nanomembranes (i.

Symmetry in strain engineering of nanomembranes: making new strained materials.

Strain in a material changes the lattice constant and thereby creates a material with new properties relative to the unstrained, but chemically identical, material. The ability to alter the strain (its magnitude, direction, extent, periodicity, symmetry, and nature) allows tunability of these new properties. A recent development, crystalline nanomembranes, offers a powerful platform for using and tuning strain to create materials that have unique properties, not achievable in bulk materials or with conventional processes.

Defect-free single-crystal SiGe: a new material from nanomembrane strain engineering.

Many important materials cannot be grown as single crystals in bulk form because strain destroys long-range crystallinity. Among them, alloys of group IV semiconductors, specifically SiGe alloys, have significant technological value. Using nanomembrane strain engineering methods, we demonstrate the fabrication of fully elastically relaxed Si(1-x)Ge(x) nanomembranes (NMs) for use as growth substrates for new materials.

Si/Ge junctions formed by nanomembrane bonding.

We demonstrate the feasibility of fabricating heterojunctions of semiconductors with high mismatches in lattice constant and coefficient of thermal expansion by employing nanomembrane bonding. We investigate the structure of and electrical transport across the interface of a Si/Ge bilayer formed by direct, low-temperature hydrophobic bonding of a 200 nm thick monocrystalline Si(001) membrane to a bulk Ge(001) wafer. The membrane bond has an extremely high quality, with an interfacial region of ∼1 nm.