A2: Synthesis from Gas Phase

Synthesis of epitaxial films from the gas phase is the basis of modern technology in micro- and optoelectronics. Methods like metal organic vapor deposition and magnetron sputtering are easily up scalable, while molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and pulsed laser deposition (PLD) are typically used on lab scale. All of these methods allow for a tailoring of optical and electrical properties by strain, composition and doping. Further, artificial crystalline nanostructures can be synthesized from the gas phase. Purity, control and tuning of composition, growth mode, and strain relaxation are important. Precursors, substrates, and reactor geometry may play an important role. Gas phase deposition reactors are software controlled and data on gas fluxes, growth temperature etc. are available. Parameters like growth rate, the structure of the growth surface, and strain are accessible during growth by in-situ equipment. Despite these techniques being on the forefront of our modern technology, most of the knowledge behind is hidden in academic and industrial research labs and not available to the benefit of the broader research community. Our goal within the Task A2 will be to create a unique data base of technological relevant semiconductors that characterizes the synthesis process to reproducible realize materials with desired properties and to link these properties to the synthesis process. Further, combinatorial synthesis from the gas phase in combination with spatially resolved analysis methods allows for high throughput analysis of materials in terms of optical, electrical and structural properties as function of growth temperature, doping, ternary alloy composition, strain, etc. However, the precise specification of metadata is more involved compared to one-by-one synthesis approaches and likely needs to be defined individually for different combinatorial synthesis methods.