ABSTRACT:
The ability of the scanning tunneling microscope to fabricate atomic-scale devices in silicon has been well-demonstrated over the years. However, the application of this technique to fabricate devices beyond phosphorous-based qubits in silicon has suffered, amongst other things, from the lack of developed chemistry compatible with the overall process flow. Halogen-based chemistry provides a relatively unexplored, yet promising, path towards atomically precise manufacturing of silicon-based electronic devices with the potential to expand the application space of this technique beyond dopant-based qubits in the Kane quantum computer architecture. The halogen-silicon system has been well-studied due to the prevalent use of halogen-based plasmas for silicon device processing and also for its role in fostering chemical reactions for the functionalization of silicon surfaces. Recently, we have demonstrated the ability to pattern Cl resists with atomic-precision on Si(100) and the compatibility of halogen-based precursors with both H and Cl resists, thereby expanding the compatible chemistries for the exploration of novel devices and applications. Here, I will discuss the development of these halogen-based chemistries towards the realization of atomic-scale, acceptor-doped devices in silicon, focusing on the adsorption and incorporation of acceptor dopants utilizing chlorine-based precursors, BCl3 and AlCl3. In addition, I will discuss the use of halogens for pattern preservation and the potential for pattern self-assembly.
BIOGRAPHY:
Robert E. Butera leads the Atomistic Fabrication and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy-based research at the Laboratory for Physical Sciences in College Park, MD, USA. He received his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Illinois in 2010 focusing on halogen-induced modifications of semiconductor surfaces. His current research activities focus on the development of single dopant qubits in Si and exploration of alternative chemistries for atomic-precision manufacturing.