Fabrication of metal/quantum dot/semiconductor structure on silicon substrate

A fabrication technique and optimal growth conditions are reported to develop a Sb-based quantum dot (QD) structure as a nanostructured III–V semiconductor on a silicon substrate. By using solid-source molecular beam epitaxy, high-density (>1010 cm−2) InGaSb QD structures can be obtained under a low growth temperature, which is compatible for use with Si-CMOS processes. We also proposed the construction of a metal/quantum dot/semiconductor (MDS) structure by using the InGaSb QD on a Si substrate. An infrared light emission with a photon energy of 0.95 eV is successfully observed from the fabricated MDS structure under the current injection conditions. It is expected that a MDS structure using a Sb-based QD will be used as a small-sized infrared light source for silicon photonic technology.