Growth and uses of metal/semiconductor heterostructures

Dozens of metallic compounds exist that potentially can be grown epitaxially on and in semiconductors. The rare-earth group Ill-V metallic compounds are particularly noteworthy. We illustrate the growth and uses of such compounds by studies of the molecular beam epitaxy of erbium-based Ill-V metallic compounds with simple rock-salt crystal structure on and in Ill-V semiconductors. 1) All-epitaxial metal/semiconductor microwave detector diodes, 2) time-domain Terahertz sources and detectors based on embedded metal nanoparticles, 3) thermo-electric power generators based on embedded nanoparticles, and 4) tandem solar cells coupled by monolayers of metallic epitaxial nanoparticles are all showing record-breaking performance. It is apparent that the epitaxial metal/semiconductor heterostructure is joining the semiconductor/semiconductor heterostructure as a key element in enhanced-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices.