High-rate growth of epitaxial silicon at low temperatures (530–690 °C) by atmospheric pressure plasma chemical vapor deposition

• Published in: Thin solid films 2003-11, Vol.444 (1), p.138-145
• Main Authors: Mori, Y., Yoshii, K., Yasutake, K., Kakiuchi, H., Ohmi, H., Wada, K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Chemical vapor deposition; Chemical vapor deposition (including plasma-enhanced cvd, mocvd, etc.); Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Epitaxy; Exact sciences and technology; Materials science; Methods of deposition of films and coatings; film growth and epitaxy; Physics; Plasma processing and deposition; Silicon
• ISSN: 0040-6090; 1879-2731
• DOI: 10.1016/S0040-6090(03)01148-9

High-rate growth of epitaxial Si films at low temperatures by atmospheric pressure plasma chemical vapor deposition has been investigated. Si films are deposited on (001) Si wafers in gas mixtures containing He, H 2 and SiH 4 at substrate temperatures ranging from 530 to 690 °C. The films are characterized by reflection high-energy electron diffraction, atomic force microscopy and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. High quality Si films with excellent crystallinity and surface flatness similar to or better than those of commercial Si wafers are grown in the area where the deposition gap between the substrate and rotary electrode is small. Especially, in epitaxial Si film grown at 610 °C with an input plasma power of 2000 W, no lattice defects are observed by transmission electron microscopy. The maximum growth rate is approximately 6.6 μm/min at 690 °C with 1500 W and 1.2 μm/min at 610 °C with 2000 W, which is approximately 20–30 and 4–6 times faster than that obtained by thermal chemical vapor deposition at approximately 1100 °C, respectively.