Zhores Alferov

Semiconductor Revolution
in the 20th Century

St Petersburg Academic University —

Nanotechnology Research and Education Centre RAS
• Introduction
• Semiconductor research in 1930th
• Transistor discovery
• Discovery of laser–maser principle and
birth of quantum optoelectronics
• Invention and development
of the silicon chips
• Heterostructure research
“God-made” and “Man-made” crystals
• Problems and future trends
2
Polytechnical Institute

Ioffe seminar at the Polytechnical Institute. 1916

3
Yakov Frenkel

4
One of the last
Ioffe photo.
September 1960

5
 Laboratory demo model
of the first bipolar transistor

Schematic plot of the first

point-contact transistor
6
The Nobel Prize in Physics 1956
"for their researches on semiconductors
and their discovery of the transistor effect"

William Bradford John Walter Houser

Shockley Bardeen Brattain
1910–1989 1908–1991 1902–1987 7
8
9
10
11
W. Shockley and A. Ioffe. Prague. 1960. 12
 The Nobel Prize in Physics 1964
"for fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics,

which has led to the construction of oscillators

and amplifiers based on the maser-laser principle"

Charles Hard Nicolay Aleksandr

Townes Basov Prokhorov
b. 1915 1922–2001 1916–2002 13
14
15
 Lasers and LEDs on p–n junctions
• January 1962: observations of superlumenscences in GaAs p-n junctions
(Ioffe Institute, USSR).
• Sept.-Dec. 1962: laser action in GaAs and GaAsP p-n junctions
(General Electric , IBM (USA); Lebedev Institute (USSR).

L ig h t in te n s ity
W a v e le n g th

“+” n
E F n
p LD
p L D
G aAs E g h
n p
E F
C le a v e d m ir r o r
“–”

Condition of optical gain: EnF – EpF > Eg

16
 The Nobel Prize in Physics 2000
"for basic work on information and communication technology"
“for developing semiconductor “for his part in the
heterostructures used in high-speed- and invention of the integrated
opto-electronics” circuit”

Zhores I. Herbert Jack S.

Alferov Kroemer Kilby
b. 1930 b. 1928 1923–2005 17
18
19
First integrated circuit/notebook

20
Patent of the first
integrated circuit
by R. Noyce

21
 Factory sales of Electronics and IC
1000
S a le s in th e U n ite d S ta te s

S a le s ( $ b illio n s ) 100
( a ) F a c to r y s a le s
o f E le c tr o n ic s

10 (b ) In te g ra te d
c ir c u it s
D ig ita l M O S
1
D ig ita l
In v e n tio n B e g in n in g b ip o la r
o f tr a n s is to r o f IC
L in e a r
S.M. Sze,
0 .1
1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 J. Appl. Phys.
Year Vol. 22 (1983)

(a) Factory sales of Electronics in the United States over the past 50 years
and projected to 1990.
(b) Integrated circuit Market in the United States. 22
 Changing composition of work force
in the United States
P e r io d I P e r io d II P e r io d III
50
A g r ic u ltu r e
In fo r m a tio n
In d u s tr y
40
P e r c e n ta g e

30

20
S e r v ic e

10 S.M. Sze,
J. Appl. Phys.
Vol. 22 (1983)
0
1860 1900 1950 1990
Year

23
 Penetration of technology into
the industrial output
S y s te m o r g a n iz a tio n
s o ftw a r e d e s ig n
P e n e tr a tio n o f te c h n o lo g y

E le c tr o m e c h a n ic a l
d e s ig n

E le c tr o n ic
c ir c u it L o g ic
d e s ig n d e s ig n

S.M. Sze,
J. Appl. Phys.
1860 1900 1950 1990 Vol. 22 (1983)
Year
Penetration of technology into the industrial output versus year for four
periods of change in the United States electronics industry.
24
 Moore's law I: device downsizing
F ir s t s ilic o n tr a n s is to r
T e x a s In s tru m e n ts
in t r o d u c e d t h e f ir s t
s ilic o n tr a n s is t o r
8 n 1954 S m a ll ta lk
10 nm T h e tr a n s is to r s in
I n t e l's P e n t iu m 4
p r o c e s s o r a r e ju s t
7 4 5 n m in s iz e
10 nm S iz e m a tte r s
T r a n s is to r s in th e
6 fir s t m ic r o p r o c e s s o r
V a c u u m tu b e 10 nm (th e In te l 4 0 0 4 )
T h e f ir s t a c tiv e m e a s u re d 1 0 µ m
e le c t r o n ic d e v ic e t o 5
b e in v e n te d w a s 10 nm
th e v a c u u m tu b e
4
T h e fir s t In te g r a te d c ir c u it 10 nm
J a c k K ilb y d e v e lo p e d H o w lo w c a n y o u g o ?
t h e fir s t in te g r a te d 3 F u r th e r d o w n s iz in g
c ir c u it in 1 9 5 8 10 nm m a y n o t p ro v e to b e
e c o n o m ic a lly v ia b le
100 nm
10 nm
T ra d e -o ff
S m a lle r d e v ic e s
s u ffe r fr o m la r g e r
le a k a g e c u r r e n ts

1900 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

25
H. Iwai, H. Wang, Phys. World Vol. 18, 09 2005
 Moore's law II: chip density
T h e ro a d a h e a d
F u r t h e r in c r e a s e in 10
c h ip d e n s it y r e lie s o n 10
In te l Ita n iu m n e w te c h n o lo g ie s
T h e w o r ld 's m o s t
p o w e r f u l c h ip c a n
p e rfo rm h u n d re d s o f
m illio n s o f o p e r a t io n s
per second 9
10

L a rg e r m e m o ry
M e m o r y c h ip s
8 c o n ta in m o r e
10
G o rd o n M o o re tr a n s is to r s th a n
C o - fo u n d e r o f In te l, p ro c e s s o rs
w h o id e n t if ie d
7
th e tre n d fo r 10
c h ip d e n s it y
4 0 y e a rs a g o

6 In te l P e n tiu m 4
10
B y 1 9 9 5 th e P e n tiu m
F ir s t m ic r o p r o c e s s o r c h ip c o n t a in e d
T h e In te l 4 0 0 4 4 2 m illio n t r a n s is to r s
c o n ta in e d 2 3 0 0
tr a n s is to r s 5
10 In te l P e n tiu m
T h e fir s t P e n tiu m
p r o c e s s o r c o n ta in e d
4 5 . 5 m illio n tr a n s is to r s
10
1970 1980 1990 2000 2004 2010 2020
26
H. Iwai, H. Wang, Phys. World Vol. 18, 09 2005
Increase in the power density of VLSI chips
1000
C h ip m a x im u m p o w e r d e n s ity

It a n iu m : 1 3 0 W

100
(W /c m 2 )

P e n tiu m 4 : 7 5 W
P e n tiu m III: 3 5 W
P e n tiu m P r o : 3 0 W P e n tiu m II: 3 5 W
10 H e a tin g p la te
P e n tiu m : 1 4 W
(s u rp ra s s e d )

I4 8 6 : 2 W
I3 8 6 : 1 W
1
1 .5 1 0 .7 0 .5 0 .3 5 0 .2 5 0 .1 8 0 .1 3 0 .1 0 .0 7
F e a tu r e s iz e ( µ m )

B. Jalali et. all., OPN, June 2009 27

 Fundamental physical phenomena
in classical heterostructures
(a) Ec E le c tr o n s
One-side Injection
E c
Fn Propozal — 1948 (W. Shokley)
Fp Experiment — 1965 (Zh. Alferov et al.)

E v H o le s

(b) E le c tr o n s Superinjection
Fn Ec Theory — 1966 (Zh. Alferov et al.)
Fp
Experiment — 1968 (Zh. Alferov et al.)
Ev
H o le s

(c)
Diffusion in built-in
E le c tr o n s quasielectric field
Theory — 1956 (H. Kroemer)
Experiment — 1967 (Zh. Alferov et al.)
28
 Fundamental physical phenomena
in classical heterostructures
(d) Electron and optical confinement
Ec
Fn Propozal — 1963 (Zh. Alferov et al.)
Experiment — 1968 (Zh. Alferov et al.)
Fp
Ev

(e) Superlattices and quantum wells

Ec
Theory — 1962 (L.V. Keldysh)
First experiment —1970 (L. Esaki et al.)
Ev
Resonant tunnelling — 1963
(L.V. Iogansen)
In Quantum Wells — 1974 (L. Esaki et al.)

29
 Heterojunctions — a new kind
of semiconductor materials:
Long journey from infinite interface recombination
to ideal heterojunction
2 .8 Lattice matched
A lP heterojunctions
E n e rg y g a p (e V ) [3 0 0 K ]

• Ge–GaAs–1959
2 .0 G a P (R. L. Anderson)
A lS b • AlGaAs–1967
In P (Zh. Alferov et al.,
G aAs J. M. Woodall &
1 .2
G aSb H. S. Rupprecht)
• Quaternary HS
G e
0 .4 In A s (InGaAsP & AlGaAsSb)
Proposal–1970
5 .4 0 5 .5 6 5 .7 2 5 .8 8 6 .0 4 6 .2 0 (Zh. Alferov et al.)
L a ttic e c o n s ta n t ( Å ) [3 0 0 K ] First experiment–1972
(Antipas et al.)

30
 3 .0

2 .4

E n e rg y g a p (e V ) 1 .8

1 .2

0 .6

0
– 0 .6
5 .4 5 .6 5 .8 6 .0 6 .2 6 .4 6 .6
L a ttic e c o n s ta n t ( Å )
Energy gaps vs lattice constants for semiconductors IV elements,
III–V and II(IV)–VI compounds and magnetic materials in parentheses.
Lines connecting the semiconductors, red for III–V, and blue for others,

indicate quantum heterostructures, that have been investigated.

Nitrides have not been yet included. 31
 Schematic representation of the DHS
injection laser in the first CW-operation
at room temperature

200 m A

120 µm
M e ta l
S iO 2
p+ G aAs 3 µm
p A l0 .2 5 G a 0 .7 5 A s 3 µ m
p G a A s 0 .5 µ m
p A l0 .2 5 G a 0 .7 5 A s 3 µ m
n G aAs
M e ta l 250 µm
Copper

32
 Heterostructure solar cells

Space station “Mir” equipped with heterostructure solar cells

33
 Heterostructure microelectronics
Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor
E c Suggestion—1948 (W.Shockley)
E c Theory—1957 (H.Kroemer)
F
E v
Experiment—1972 (Zh.Alferov et al.)
E v AlGaAs HBT

HEMT—1980 (T.Mimura et al.)

EcE
E c
1 10 ns
F
E 0

P r o p a g a tio n d e la y
1 ns
E v
E v

NAlGaAs-n GaAs Heterojunction

100 ps

J–J
10 ps

100 nW 1 µW 10 µW 100 µW 1 m W 10 m W
P o w e r d is s ip a tio n

Speed-power performances 34
 Heterostructure Tree A dvanced LA N

(by I. Hayashi, 1985) B id ir e c tio n a l

W id e B a n d V id e o N e tw o r k
O p t ic a l T r a n s it io n S u p e r H ig h S p e e d
W a v e le n g th D iv is io n C o m p u te r
M u lt ip le x it y
M o n o lith ic
O n e C h ip O E IC
R e p e a te r S w itc h O p tic a l
A ll O p tic a l L in k M u lti- C o n n e c tio n
W a v e le n g th P IN - F E T B e tw e e n
L S Is
P hased LD L D - D r iv e r M SI O p t ic a l O n e C h ip
L a s e r D is k A rra y W ir in g C o m p u te r
L a s e r P r in te r SSI In s id e
LD I n t e g r a t io n
o f O p tic a l LSI LSI
a n d E le c tr o n ic
D e te c to r D e v ic e s
O p tic a l S e n s o r A rra y In te g r a tio n In te g r a tio n o f H EM T
o f O p tic a l HBT HS
B if u n c t io n a l S o la r
D e v ic e s D e v ic e s
H ig h APD FET G aAs C e ll's
Pow er LD P IN IC
E le c t r o n ic s In te g r a tio n
LED T e c h n o lo g y

D e v ic e
T e c h n o lo g y

S u b s tra te E p ita x i P ro c e s s M a te r ia l
C ry s ta l T h in F ilm T e c h n o lo g y C h a r a c te r iz a tio n
35
 Liquid Phase Epitaxy of
III–V compounds
H H e a te r c o ils
2

G aAs G aAs
s u b s tra te s o u rc e S o lu tio n
P u ll r o d

Q u a rtz re a c to r

InAsGaP thin layer in

InGaP/InGaAsP/InGaP/GaAs
(111 A) structure with
quantum well grown by LPE.
TEM image of the structure.
5 nm

36
 Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE)
III–V compounds
io n p u m p Riber 32P
e -g u n

s u b s tra te
u n it io n g a u g e

r e s id u a l g a s
a n a ly z e r s h u tte rs
R H EED
s c re e n

e ffu s io n
c e lls MESFET, HEMT

Schematic view of MBE machine

QCL, RTD, Esaki-Tsu SL
MBE — high purity of materials,
in situ control, precision of
structure growth in layer
PD, LED, LD
thickness and composition
....
37
 MOCVD growth of III–V compounds
Schematic view of MOCVD chamber

In le t
Q u a r tz s e a lin g S tr e a m lin e s
W a ffe r

Aixtron AIX2000 HT Epiquip VP50-RP

(up to 6 x 2” wafers) (up to 1 x 2” wafer)
Production oriented growth Flexible growth machine
machine for the fabrication for laboratory studies
of device structures

A l2O 3

Unique method of wafer rotation HEM T LED LD

leads to high uniformity of structure
in wafer and high reproducibility MOCVD — high purity of materials,
from wafer to wafer large-scale device-oriented technology

38
Impact of dimensionality on
density of states

3D
P

E gap E n e rg y
Lz

P
2D

D e n s ity o f s ta te s
N

E 0 E 1
Lz

P
N
1D Lx

E 00 E 01
Lz
Lx
P

N
0D Ly

E 000 E 001
39
 Quantum cascade lasers
Band diagram Layer sequence

Emission spectrum at room Light- and Volt-current

temperature characteristics
1 12 80
O p tic a l p o w e r ( lo g ., a .u .)

P u ls e d 8K
ro o m te m p e ra tu re
0 .1 60
8 150K

P o w e r, m W
V o lta g e , V

0 .0 1 40

4
200K
0 .0 0 1 20
250K
0 0
8 .5 8 .6 8 .7 0 0 .5 1 .0 1 .5
W a v e le n g th , µ m C u rre n t, A 40
 Quantum dot as superatom

c o n d u c tio n
band e le c tr o n
le v e ls
p h o to n
phonon p h o to n

fo r b id d e n
gaps

v a le n c e kT h o le
le v e ls
band

Atom Semiconductor Quantum dot

41
Milestones of semiconductor lasers
10 5

4 .3 k A /c m 2
10 4
(1 9 6 8 ) Im p a c t o f D o u b le
H e te ro s tru c tu re s
10 3 Im p a c t o f
J th ( A / c m 2 )

9 0 0 A /c m 2 Q u a n tu m W e lls
(1 9 7 0 ) 4 0 A /c m 2 Im p a c t o f
10 2
(1 9 8 8 ) Q u a n tu m
1 6 0 A /c m 2
(1 9 8 1 ) D o ts
1 9 A /c m 2
10 (2 0 0 0 )
Im p a c t o f S P S L Q W
6 A /c m 2
(2 0 0 2 )
0
1960 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 00 2005
Y e a rs

• Evolution and revolutionary changes

• Reduction of dimensionality results in improvements 42
 “Magic leather”
energy consumption
T o ta l th r o u g h o u t th e w o r ld
R e s e rv e s
E n e r g y C a r r ie r (k n o w n a n d C o n s u m p tio n P e r io d o f
e x tr a c t iv e ) ra te exhaust
(G W a tt  y e a r) (G W a tt) (y e a rs )
O il 200 000 4 600 40–50

G as 150 000 2 200 60–70

Coal 1 000 000 3 000 300–400
N u c le a r P o w e r 90 000 750* 120
(th e rm a l re a c to rs )
T o ta l 1 440 000 11 0 0 0 130

N u c le a r P o w e r 15 000 000 11 0 0 0 * 1 500

(fa s t re a c to rs )
* C a lc u la te d v a lu e
43
Multijunction solar cells provide conversion
of the solar spectrum with higher efficiency.
Achievable efficiency of multijunction cells is > 50%

G e

Si
G a In P G aAs
1600 1600
1400 1400
S p e c tr a l ir r a d ia n c e

1200 1200
(W /m 2 µ m )

1000 1000
800 800
600 600
400 400
200 200
0 0
500 1000 1500 2000 2500 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
W a v e le n g th ( n m ) W a v e le n g th ( n m )

44
The experimental PV installation with output power of 1 kW based on
concentrator III-V solar cells and Fresnel lens panels arranged on the sun-
tracker (development of the Ioffe Institute). The efficiency >30% can be
ensured by such a type of installations if they are equipped by tandem solar
cells with efficiency >35%. 45
 White light-emitting diodes:
efficiency, controllability, reliability, life time
Today: Outlook:
InGaN-QW/GaN/sapphire Monolithic microcavity LED with
light-emitting chip + YAG Ce phosphor InGN/GN MQW active region
W h ite W h ite
P hosphor
YAG C e

S a p p h ir e S a p p h ir e

B u ffe r B u ffe r

n+G aN n+G aN

In G a N -Q W T i/A g /A u

p+G aN In G a N -Q W
p+G aN
B ra g g re s o n a to r
N i/ A g / A u T i/A g /A u G a N /A lG a N N i/A g /A u

+ simple design + monolithic nature

– phosphor loss + absence of additional loss 46
 Nanostructures for high power
semiconductor lasers
S o lid -s ta te la s e r s p u m p in g

A tm o s p h e r ic a n d
F ib r e
fib r e o p tic a l
la s e r s
c o m m u n ic a tio n

M e d ic a l
N a v ig a tio n
a p p a ra tu s
T h ic k n e s s , n m
5 nm

Band gap, eV
E n e rg y tra n s p o rt
A tm o s p h e r ic
in th e a tm o s p h e r e
lid a r s
a n d fib r e

Laser efficiency > 75% W e ld in g a n d c u ttin g Laser array

output power > 100 W
Laser power > 10 W
Matrix output power > 5 kW
47
 Global nanotechnology market forecast:
More than 1 trillion USD annually in the nearest 8–10 years

T ra n s p o rt
E c o lo g y 7 0 b illio n
1 0 0 b illio n N a n o m a t e r ia ls
A c c e le r a n ts 3 5 0 b illio n
1 0 0 b illio n

P h a r m a c e u tic s
1 8 0 b illio n
N a n o e le c t r o n ic s
3 5 0 b illio n

48
 Summary
1. Heterostructures — a new kind of semiconductor materials:
• expensive, complicated chemically & technologically but most efficient
2. Modern optoelectronics is based on heterostructure applications
• DHS laser — key device of the modern optoelectronics
• HS PD — the most efficient & high speed photo diode
• OEIC — only solve problem of high information density of optical
communication system
3. Future high speed microelectronics will mostly use
heterostructures
4. High temperature, high speed power electronics —
a new broad field of heterostructure applications
5. Heterostructures in solar energy conversion:
the most expensive photocells and the cheapest solar electricity producer

6. In the 21st century heterostructures in electronics will reserve

only 1% for homojunctions
49