Materials Issues for the Heterogeneous Integration of III-V Compounds: Exfoliation and Layer Transfer

Materials integration can advance the performance of III-V semiconductor devices through the incorporation of wafer bonded template substrates. The objective of this study was to develop III-V based wafer bonded templates for subsequent epitaxial growth of device structures using noncompliant layers. In this study, III-V layers are transferred to other III-V substrates using hydrogen ion exfoliation and wafer bonding. The incorporation of high resolution x-ray scattering techniques has proven to be particularly helpful for the development of this materials system. For example, studies of the blistering and exfoliation of different III-V materials was aided by the use of high resolution diffraction scans and atomic force microscopy. The kinetics of exfoliation for many different III-V materials (including GaAs, InP, InAs, and GaSb) showed similar dependence on the processing temperature relative to the material melting temperature (and other materials parameters). In all of these cases, a multiple annealing sequence was shown to produce the most efficient exfoliation.