Quantum Dots and Etch-Induced Depletion of a Silicon 2DEG

TL;DR

This study investigates how different reactive-ion etching techniques affect electron depletion in silicon-germanium heterostructures, crucial for fabricating quantum devices like quantum dots.

Contribution

It compares the depletion effects of CF$_4$ and SF$_6$ etches, demonstrating SF$_6$ causes less depletion, improving device fabrication precision.

Findings

SF$_6$ etch results in smaller depletion width

Capacitance and conductance methods effectively estimate depletion

SF$_6$ is more suitable for quantum dot fabrication

Abstract

The controlled depletion of electrons in semiconductors is the basis for numerous devices. Reactive-ion etching provides an effective technique for fabricating both classical and quantum devices. However, Fermi level pinning can occur, and must be carefully considered in the development of small devices, such as quantum dots. Because of depletion, the electrical size of the device is reduced in comparison with its physical dimension. To investigate this issue, we fabricate several types of devices in silicon-germanium heterostructures using two different etches, CF$_4$ and SF$_6$. We estimate the depletion width associated with each etch by two methods: (i) conductance measurements in etched wires of decreasing thickness (to determine the onset of depletion), (ii) capacitance measurements of quantum dots (to estimate the size of the active region). We find that the SF$_6$ etch causes a much smaller depletion width, making it more suitable for device fabrication.