Passivation of defects in polycrystalline superlattices and quantum well structures

Abstract
In order to broaden the available materials for superlattices and quantum well structures, well-passivated polycrystalline semiconductors and amorphous oxides such as pc-Si/a-SiO2, pc-Ge/a-GeO2 (pc: polycrystalline; a: amorphous) are proposed. Crucial in maintaining long scattering length involves the passivation of pc-Si (polycrystalline silicon) and pc-Ge. Specific means to passivate grain boundaries are discussed which consist of the use of the common dangling bond teminator, hydrogen, as well as amorphous oxides and other amorphous materials. This unique procedure may be extended to the entire group III-V semiconductors such as polycrystalline GaAs and InP.