Fabrication of a SWIR detector based on thin strained silicon

The here presented master’s thesis flies over the fundamental of flexible electronics. Different paradigms such a flexible, stretchable, or bendable electronics are presented. The principles behind strain engineering are presented alongside with the fundamental physics of silicon and strained silicon semiconductor. A design of flexible polyimide membrane carrying silicon based 300 nm thick PN and NPN photodetectors is presented and discussed. The discussion is backed by COMSOL numerical simulations of the stress, strain, and deflection of the membranes and stress and strain in the pixels. The doping of silicon is explicated and backed by a Silvaco simulation. A microfabrication process to build such flexible membranes and pixels is then presented.