Introduction to Nanomaterials and Devices

Chapter 1

Growth of Bulk, Thin Films, and Nanomaterials

1.1 Introduction

The evolution of the growth of the high quality semiconductor materials from bulk to nanomaterials enables researchers to fabricate devices with a continued enhancement of the properties and performance. In this chapter, the discussion is directed toward the growth of semiconductor single crystals by using various techniques ranging from bulk crystal growth to the epitaxial growth of quantum dots and core/shell nanocrystals. Bulk crystal growth techniques include liquid-encapsulated Czochralski (LEC), horizontal Bridgman (HB), liquid-encapsulated Kyropoulos (LEK), and vertical gradient freezing (VGF) methods. There are many improved methods available for the growth of bulk semiconductor crystals. For example, magnetic LEC, direct synthesis-LEC, pressure-controlled LEC, and thermal baffle LEC methods are all variations of the original LEC technique, but with improved growth conditions. Other bulk growth techniques include dynamic gradient freezing, horizontal gradient freezing, magnetic LEK, and vertical Bridgman methods. The widely used epitaxial growth techniques are the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), metal–organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) techniques, and liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE). The word epitaxy is a Greek origin composed of two parts, epi (placed or resting on) and taxis (arrangement). Thus, epitaxy refers to the formation of single-crystal nanomaterials on top of a substrate. The techniques ...