Recent Progress in Semiconductor Properties Engineering by Ultrasonication

This work presents review of the recent patents and applied researches in the field of ultrasonic processing of the semiconductor materials and devices. The ultrasound demonstrates selective and, simultaneously, complex character of the effect on semiconductors. In contrast to the thermal or light energy, uniformly absorbed over semiconductor volume, the acoustic wave energy is mainly absorbed by the crystal lattice defects. The peculiarities of this interaction results in practical applications of the ultrasonication of semiconductors for electronic properties design. It was shown that US processing has found technological niche as supporting operation during ion implantation process and growth of semiconductors. The use of an inhomogeneous stress and piezoelectric harmonic potential produced by surface acoustic waves in low dimensional heterostructures to improves the efficiency of available optoelectronic and nanoelectronic devices as well as create new ones. The phenomenon of acoustic cavitation that underlies at the basis of such technological processes as cleaning and sonochemical synthesis is discussed separately.