UK university opens updated MBE growth facility
A new X-ray diffraction wafer characterization tool from Bede has also been added as part of the improvement, which cost more than £1 million ($1.6 million).
The laboratory forms part of a program of enhancement in growth and device processing capabilities following recent record investment from the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
“The V90+ MBE reactor is ideally suited for our dual requirements for single wafer research and small-scale automated batch processing,” said Mark Hopkinson, senior research scientist at the University of Sheffield.
Hopkinson says that the new facility will allow the group to build on recent successes in GaAs based optoelectronics, such as the demonstration of room temperature CW 1.3-micron quantum dot lasers and 1.55–micron emission from InGaAsN quantum wells.
“Also, the facility will support our long-standing research interests in inter sub-band detectors and emitters,” added Hopkinson.
Since its installation in June the new MBE system has already proved its capabilities with regard to reproducibility, uniformity and low defect density on 3-inch and multiwafer 2-inch GaAs.
“We have found it very easy to transfer existing processes from our V80 machines and have already superseded existing device quality for InGaAs QW and QD laser devices,” said Hopkinson.
