Silicon-Based Semiconductor Heterostructures

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Abstract
Since the late 1950s, silicon has been the material of choice in semiconductor electronics. Its dominance cannot be attributed to electronic properties alone. Silicon has mediocre carrier mobilities and only average breakdown characteristics and carrier saturation velocities. 1 Its long minority carrier lifetimes are offset by the absence of a direct bandgap which rules out light emission and severely hampers its efficiency as a light detector. Silicon fares better as a mechanical material, with high values of Young’s modulus and Knoop hardness and an outstanding tensile yield strength (more than three times the value of stainless steel). 2 Finally, it excels from a chemical perspective, with the ability to grow an unusually inert and effective passivating oxide, a high natural abundance, and well-developed and extremely effective purification procedures.

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