Microanalysis and Luminescence of III-V Semiconductors

The project focusses on characterisation of technologically important semiconductor materials, using advanced techniques that investigate material composition, structure and optical properties at a sub-micron length scale. It is closely connected to an EPSRC Strategic Equipment Award through which a new £1M field-emission gun electron probe micro-analyser (FEG-EPMA) is being installed in the TIC building. This machine, which will be ready for operation in July 2017, will be configured for highly spatially resolved x-ray microanalysis and cathodoluminescence studies of semiconductors. The student will work with the senior researcher in charge of the electron microscope facility, and the supervisors, to utilise and extend the capabilities of the instrument. The experimental data acquired will be combined via software tools developed in the group to provide as much information as possible on the material and on the performance that can be delivered in subsequent devices. The aim is to produce original and significant results concerning the properties of a range of light-emitting semiconductor samples which will lead to a series of high-impact publications and conference presentations. A key target is the demonstration of simultaneous WDX and CL mapping on a sub-100 nm lengthscale in AlInGaN heterostructures. The samples and structures to be studied will be provided through collaborations with epitaxy specialists at Universities including Sheffield, Bath, Cambridge, Cork, Berlin and Nottingham and from industry.