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Title: Low-temperature plasma-deposited silicon epitaxial films: Growth and properties

Abstract

Low-temperature (≤ 180 °C) epitaxial growth yields precise thickness, doping, and thermal-budget control, which enables advanced-design semiconductor devices. In this paper, we use plasma-ehanced chemical vapor deposition to grow homo-epitaxial layers and study the different growth modes on crystalline silicon substrates. In particular, we determine the conditions leading to epitaxial growth in light of a model that depends only on the silane concentration in the plasma and the mean free path length of surface adatoms. For such growth, we show that the presence of a persistent defective interface layer between the crystalline silicon substrate and the epitaxial layer stems not only from the growth conditions but also from unintentional contamination of the reactor. As a result of our findings, we determine the plasma conditions to grow high-quality bulk epitaxial films and propose a two-step growth process to obtain device-grade material.

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [1];  [1]
  1. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Neuchatel (Switzerland)
  2. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne (Switzerland)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Neuchatel (Switzerland)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
OSTI Identifier:
1167178
Grant/Contract Number:  
EE0006335
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of Applied Physics
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 116; Journal Issue: 5; Journal ID: ISSN 0021-8979
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY; crystalline silicon; homo-epitaxy; low temperature; PECVD

Citation Formats

Demaurex, Bénédicte, Bartlome, Richard, Seif, Johannes P., Geissbühler, Jonas, Alexander, Duncan T. L., Jeangros, Quentin, Ballif, Christophe, and De Wolf, Stefaan. Low-temperature plasma-deposited silicon epitaxial films: Growth and properties. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4892095.
Demaurex, Bénédicte, Bartlome, Richard, Seif, Johannes P., Geissbühler, Jonas, Alexander, Duncan T. L., Jeangros, Quentin, Ballif, Christophe, & De Wolf, Stefaan. Low-temperature plasma-deposited silicon epitaxial films: Growth and properties. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4892095
Demaurex, Bénédicte, Bartlome, Richard, Seif, Johannes P., Geissbühler, Jonas, Alexander, Duncan T. L., Jeangros, Quentin, Ballif, Christophe, and De Wolf, Stefaan. 2014. "Low-temperature plasma-deposited silicon epitaxial films: Growth and properties". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4892095. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1167178.
@article{osti_1167178,
title = {Low-temperature plasma-deposited silicon epitaxial films: Growth and properties},
author = {Demaurex, Bénédicte and Bartlome, Richard and Seif, Johannes P. and Geissbühler, Jonas and Alexander, Duncan T. L. and Jeangros, Quentin and Ballif, Christophe and De Wolf, Stefaan},
abstractNote = {Low-temperature (≤ 180 °C) epitaxial growth yields precise thickness, doping, and thermal-budget control, which enables advanced-design semiconductor devices. In this paper, we use plasma-ehanced chemical vapor deposition to grow homo-epitaxial layers and study the different growth modes on crystalline silicon substrates. In particular, we determine the conditions leading to epitaxial growth in light of a model that depends only on the silane concentration in the plasma and the mean free path length of surface adatoms. For such growth, we show that the presence of a persistent defective interface layer between the crystalline silicon substrate and the epitaxial layer stems not only from the growth conditions but also from unintentional contamination of the reactor. As a result of our findings, we determine the plasma conditions to grow high-quality bulk epitaxial films and propose a two-step growth process to obtain device-grade material.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4892095},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1167178}, journal = {Journal of Applied Physics},
issn = {0021-8979},
number = 5,
volume = 116,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Aug 05 00:00:00 EDT 2014},
month = {Tue Aug 05 00:00:00 EDT 2014}
}

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Cited by: 19 works
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Works referencing / citing this record:

On-site SiH 4 generator using hydrogen plasma generated in slit-type narrow gap
journal, May 2018