Ultrathin compound semiconductor on insulator layers for high-performance nanoscale transistors

Compound semiconductor materials such as gallium arsenide and indium arsenide have outstanding electronic properties, but are costly to process and cannot, on their own, compete with silicon when it comes to low-cost fabrication. But as the relentless miniaturization of silicon electronics is reaching its limits, an alternative route of enhanced device performance is becoming more attractive: the integration of compound semiconductors within silicon. Ali Javey and colleagues now present a promising new concept to integrate ultrathin layers of single-crystal indium arsenide on silicon-based substrates with an epitaxial transfer method, a technique borrowed from large-area optoelectronics. With this technique, involving the use of an elastomeric stamp to lift off indium arsenide nanowires and transfer them to a silicon-based substrate, the authors fabricate thin film transistors with excellent device performance.