Silicon has been the material of choice to fabricate integrated circuit chips, which are now ubiquitously used in almost all electronic products.  However, today’s market demands electronic chips that are more power efficient and diverse in functionalities.  To meet these demands, one potential solution is to use III-V semiconductors (including GaN). The ability to tailor the electronic and optical properties of III-V semiconductors seamlessly will allow for lower power and greater functionality in future electronics. However, it is critical that III-V semiconductors are heterogeneously integrated onto silicon to enable the technology to be economically viable.

In this invited talk, we highlight the opportunities and review the most recent progress in heterogeneous integration of III-V semiconductors onto silicon. We will also address the most critical issues that remain to be overcome before III-V semiconductors is adopted for high volume manufacturing in silicon environments. This includes gate dielectric and metal contact interfaces as well as cross-contamination and safety issues of III-V processing in state-of-the-art foundries.