SEMICONDUCTING TRANSITION METAL SILICIDES FOR ELECTRO-OPTIC VLSI INTERCONNECTS

THE PHASE I RESEARCH IS A FUNDAMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF SEMICONDUCTING TRANSITION METAL SILICIDES OF POTENTIAL UTILITY AS ACTIVE MATERIALS FOR ELECTRO-OPTIC INTERCONNECTS IN SILICONMICROELECTRONICS. THIN FILMS OF CRSI2, MNSI2, AND IRSI1.75 WILL BE PREPARED BY ION BEAM SPUTTER DEPOSITION OF THE METALS ONTO SINGLE CRYSTAL SILICON WAFERS, FOLLOWED BY FURNACE REACTION WITH THE SUBSTRATES TO FORM THE SILICIDE LAYERS. THE FILMS WILL BE CHARACTERIZED STRUCTURALLY AND COMPOSITIONALLY BY X-RAY ANALYSIS, ELECTRON MICROSCOPY, AND AUGER/ESCA SPECTROSCOPY. SPECTRAL TRANSMITTANCE AND REFLECTANCE DATA WILL BE OBTAINED, AND FROM THESE, THE ENERGY DEPENDENCES OF THE OPTICAL ABSORPTION CONSTANTS AND THE COMPLEX INDICES OF REFRACTION WILL BE DETERMINED. THE RESEARCH CONSTITUTES THE FIRST STEP IN THE EVALUATION OF THESE NARROW BANDGAP SEMICONDUCTORS FOR POSSIBLE APPLICATION IN THE ELECTRO-OPTIC VLSI INTERCONNECTS. PHASE II RESEARCH WILL FOCUS ON PHOTOELECTRONIC (RATHER THAN OPTICAL) MATERIAL PROPERTIES CRUCIAL TO OPTOELECTRONIC DEVICE PERFORMANCE, AND TECHNIQUES FOR FABRICATING SUCH DEVICES.