Future Trends in Microelectronics: Up the Nano Creek

Merging Nanoepitaxy and Nanophotonics

N. N. Ledentsov, V. A. Shchukin

Institut für FestkörperphysikTech. Univ. Berlin, D-10623 Berlin, Germany andAbraham Ioffe Physical Technical Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia

D. Bimberg

Institut für FestkörperphysikTech. Univ. Berlin, D-10623 Berlin, Germany

1.   Introduction

Nanostructures are rapidly penetrating optoelectronic devices, enabling novel active media concepts and operation principles. Applications of nanostructures occurs in the three main directions: nanoepitaxy, nanophotonics and novel functionality. Nanoepitaxy utilizes growth-related phenomena at the nanoscale level, including self-organized formation and control of epitaxial nanostructures, and techniques of defect reduction and defect engineering. Nanophotonics addresses modification of the key optical properties by advanced epitaxial design and/or lateral patterning of the surfaces and interfaces with nanoscale resolution. Novel functionality enables control over performance of nanophotonic devices by utilizing optical interference phenomena controlled by electrooptic effects. In this chapter we give an overview of recent results, concentrating on all-epitaxial approaches aimed at realizing a broad range of novel devices, as opposed to widely discussed nanoscale patterning concepts addressed in other chapters of this volume.

2.   Nanoepitaxy: Self-organized growth of low-dimensional structures

Nanoepitaxy utilizes effects of spontaneous formation of ordered nanostructures ...