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A compound semiconductor is a semiconductor compound composed of elements from two or more different groups of the periodic table [1]. For groups 13-15 (old groups III-V), semiconductors are composed of elements from group 13 (Boron, Aluminium, Gallium, Indium) and from group 15 (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Arsenic, Antimony, Bismuth). The range of possible formulae is quite broad because these elements can form binary (two elements, e.g. Gallium(III) arsenide (GaAs)), ternary (three elements, e.g. Indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs)) and quaternary (four elements, e.g. Aluminium gallium indium phosphide(AlInGaP)) alloys.
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Examples
- Gallium nitride
- Gallium(III) arsenide
- Indium arsenide
- Metalorganics
- Trimethylgallium
- Trimethylindium
- Zinc selenide
- Zinc sulfide
For compound families and other examples see list of semiconductor materials.
Fabrication
Metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy (MOVPE) is the most popular deposition technology for the formation of compound semiconducting thin films for devices[citation needed]. It uses ultrapure metalorganics and / or hydrides as precursor source materials in an ambient gas such as hydrogen.
Other techniques of choice include:
- Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)
- Hydride vapour phase epitaxy (HVPE)
- Liquid phase epitaxy (LPE)
- Metal-organic molecular beam epitaxy (MOMBE)
- Atomic layer deposition (ALD)
Resources
An interesting online resource for compound semiconductors and their fabrication, Britney's Guide to Semiconductor Physics [2], is also available as reference material for semiconductor scientists and non-scientists.
Another interesting resource for compound semiconductor information is the magazine and website, Semiconductor Today. http://www.semiconductor-today.com
To read Compound Semiconductor News and Events go to: http://www.compoundsemiconductor.net
References
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
