title: Graphene-Mesoporous Si Nanocomposite as a Compliant Substrate for Heteroepitaxy.
abstract: The ultimate performance of a solid state device is limited by the restricted number of crystalline substrates that are available for epitaxial growth. As a result, only a small fraction of semiconductors are usable. This study describes a novel concept for a tunable compliant substrate for epitaxy, based on a graphene-porous silicon nanocomposite, which extends the range of available lattice constants for epitaxial semiconductor alloys. The presence of graphene and its effect on the strain of the porous layer lattice parameter are discussed in detail and new remarkable properties are demonstrated. These include thermal stability up to 900 °C, lattice tuning up to 0.9 % mismatch, and compliance under stress for virtual substrate thicknesses of several micrometers. A theoretical model is proposed to define the compliant substrate design rules. These advances lay the foundation for the fabrication of a compliant substrate that could unlock the lattice constant restrictions for defect-free new epitaxial semiconductor alloys and devices.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Nanotechnologies Nanosystèmes (LN2) - CNRS UMI-3463, Institut Interdisciplinaire d'Innovation Technologique (3IT), Université de Sherbrooke, 3000 Boulevard Université, Sherbrooke, J1K OA5, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Abderrahim Rahim
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Boucherif
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Nanotechnologies Nanosystèmes (LN2) - CNRS UMI-3463, Institut Interdisciplinaire d'Innovation Technologique (3IT), Université de Sherbrooke, 3000 Boulevard Université, Sherbrooke, J1K OA5, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Abderraouf
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Boucherif
authors.affiliation: Nanoelectronics-Nanophotonics INRS-EMT, 1650, Boul. Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, J3X 1S2, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Gitanjali
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kolhatkar
authors.affiliation: Nanoelectronics-Nanophotonics INRS-EMT, 1650, Boul. Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, J3X 1S2, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ruediger
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Nanotechnologies Nanosystèmes (LN2) - CNRS UMI-3463, Institut Interdisciplinaire d'Innovation Technologique (3IT), Université de Sherbrooke, 3000 Boulevard Université, Sherbrooke, J1K OA5, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Arès
keywords: III-V materials; epitaxial growth; graphene; lattice engineering; virtual substrates