Mismatched lattice parameters and thermal expansion coefficients often negatively affect the properties of epitaxially grown layers through extended defect formation and layer cracking. Such deficiencies can be eliminated by deep substrate patterning at a micrometer scale, combined with far-from-equilibrium growth. As an example we demonstrate the fabrication and physical properties of space-filling arrays of extremely tall SiGe microcrystals which may act as absorbers in monolithically integrated high-resolution X-ray detectors.

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Bio

Ph.D. in natural sciences at ETH Zürich in 1978; post-doctoral Associate at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, 1979 - 1981; senior researcher at ETH Zürich 1981-2002; ordinary professor of physics at the Politecnico di Milano 2002-2007; CTO of the start-ups Epispeed 2003-2010 and PileGrowth Tech 2012-now; co-founder of start-up G-ray 2014; 380 scientific publications in surface & interface physics, semiconductor physics, nanotechnology and epitaxial growth; 15 patent applications.