Perspectives on How the "Sige, Ge, & Related Compounds: Materials, Processing, and Devices" Field Has Changed over the Last 20 Years
Authors: Harame David L. 
Published: November 2022

The field of electronic devices and materials has seen major changes over the last ~20 years. The SiGe, Ge, & Related Compounds: Material Processing, and Devices symposium has documented much of this change. In 2004 the meeting grew out of a desire for the ECS to have a special ongoing symposium on SiGe & Ge as a materials system with increasing importance in silicon semiconductor technology. In 2008 the symposium was expanded to include Ge and Related compounds including SiC and III-Vs on Silicon to recognize the important work in these areas. In 2010 the symposium was expanded to include work in nano-wires, nano-membranes, and light emitting structures with SiGe and/or Ge. In 2012 the symposium explored finfet devices and expanded to include the area of GeSn. In 2014 the symposium explored the use SiGe and related compounds in more complex and advanced structures. In 2016 the conference had a theme around SOI and the FDSOI technology in particular. In 2018 the themes were the ever expanding device structures and role epitaxy has played in it.

Each year the plenary talks were selected to give a view of the industry and the conference. These talks give us insight into the symposium and how the field has changed over time.

In 2004 the first symposium “SiGe 1: Materials, Processing, and Devices” focused on the SiGe HBT transistor performance and SiGe epitaxial technology. But CMOS scaling was also presented. These trends were reflected in the plenary talks were given by John Cressler on “Using SiGe HBTs for Mixed-Signal Circuits and Systems: Opportunities and Challenges” and Judy Hoyt on “Enhanced Mobility CMOS.” This was the first symposium and we set the conference organization with multiple topical committees and published the first proceedings.

In 2006 the “SiGe and Ge 2” symposium continued the themes of SiGe and Ge Epitaxy, SiGe HBT, CMOS scalling, and added silicon photonics. The Plenary talks were given by Dimitris Antoniadis on “Channel Material Innovations for Continuing the Historical MOSFET Performance Increase with Scaling” and Cary Gunn on “CMOS Photonics for High Speed Interconnects.”

In 2008 the “SiGe, Ge, & Related Compounds 3” symposium changed in composition bringing IIIV and other compounds into the symposium. The Plenary papers were by Krishna Saraswat on “Germanium for High-Performance MOSFETS and Optical Interconnects,” and Wiebe B. de Boer on “Si and SiGe Epitaxy in Perspective.” Krishna focused on the role of Ge in modern devices and Wiebe focused on the history of SiGe epitaxy at ASM.

In 2010 the “SiGe, Ge, & Related Compounds 4” greatly expanded topics while maintaining the core of SiGe HBT and CMOS scaling. The plenary papers were given by K. Kuhn on “Past, Present, and Future: SiGe and CMOS Transistor Scaling” and L. Kimmerling on “Scaling Energy and Form Factor with Germanium Microphotonics.” The conference emphasis continued on SiGe epitaxy, CMOS scaling, and HBT performance with a new optoelectronics focus area.

In 2012 the “SiGe, Ge, & Related Compounds 5” focused on the finfet and GeSn. The plenary papers were given by E. Nowak “Advanced CMOS scaling and FinFET Technology” and C. Hu on “FinFET and UTB – How to make very short channel MOSFETs.” There were 4 sessions containing papers with GeSn.

In 2014 the “SiGe, Ge, & Related Compounds 6” returned to CMOS scaling and the SiGe HBT. The plenary papers were given by K. Uchida and T. Takahashi on “Extending the FETs: Challenges and Opportunities for New Materials and Structures” and L. Zimmermann (IHP) on “High-Performance Photonic BiCMOS – Next Generation More-than-Moore Technology for the Large Bandwidth Era.”

In 2016 the “SiGe, Ge, & Related Compounds 7” focused on FDSOI. The plenary papers were given by Bruce Doris “FDSOI Past, Present and Future” and Carlos Mazure and S. Cristoloveanu “ FD-SOI: The History from Early Transistors to Today.”

In 2018 the “SiGe, Ge, & Related Compounds 8” focused on CMOS scaling and SiGe as an enabling material. The plenary papers were given by Maszara, Witold on “Contemporary and Future Logic Devices” and by Tsu-Jae Liu on “ Silicon-Germanium: Enabler of Moore's Law.”

In 2020 the “SiGe, Ge, & Related Compounds 9” symposium focused on III-Vs and Silicon Photonic Sensors. The plenary papers were given by N. Collaert on “The revival of compound semiconductors and how they will change the world in the 5G/6G era,” and Ben Miller on “Creating the Interface Universe between the Universe and Data with Integrated Photonic Sensors."

Highlights from these plenary talks and symposium topics will be presented.