(EPITAXY)

Extended single-crystal film formation on top of a crystalline substrate

Outline
Introduction Mechanism of epitaxial growth Methods of epitaxial deposition Properties of epitaxial layers Applications of epitaxial layers

Definitions:
Epitaxy: arranged upon
Homoepitaxy: Growth of a layer of the same material as the substrate Ex: Si on Si Heteroepitaxy: Growth of a layer of a different material than the substrate Ex: GaAs on Si

Ordered, crystalline growth; NOT epitaxial

Epitaxial growth:

Need For Epitaxy:

Epitaxial growth is useful for applications that place stringent demands on a deposited layer: High purity Low defect density Abrupt interfaces Controlled doping profiles High repeatability and uniformity Safe, efficient operation Can create clean, fresh surface for device fabrication

Left column: grown on on-axis Si substrate; right column: grown on 4off Si substrate. Top line: surface of As-grown layers. Bottom line: polished surface (to make the surface pattern visible, the z-scale is reduced by a factor 5.

General Epitaxial Deposition Requirements

Surface preparation Clean surface needed Defects of surface duplicated in epitaxial layer Hydrogen passivation of surface with water/HF Surface mobility High temperature required heated substrate Epitaxial temperature exists, above which deposition is ordered Species need to be able to move into correct crystallographic location Relatively slow growth rates result Ex. ~0.4 to 4 nm/min., SiGe on Si

Types of Epitaxy
a. Liquid phase epitaxy - III-V epitaxial layer GaAs - Refreeze of laser melted silicon b. Molecular beam epitaxy - Crystalline layer grows in vacuum - 500 C c. Vapor phase epitaxy - It is performed by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) - Provides excellent control of thickness, doping and crystallinity - High temperature (800o C 1100oC)

Liquid phase epitaxy

Reactants are dissolved in a molten solvent at high temperature Substrate dipped into solution while the temperature is held constant.
Example: SiGe on Si ,Bismuth used as solvent

Temperature held at 800C High quality layer

Fast, inexpensive Not ideal for large area layers or abrupt interfaces Thermodynamic driving force relatively very low

Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Very promising technique Elemental vapor phase method Beams created by evaporating solid source in UHV

Equipment Used for MBE

MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY

http://www.virlab.virginia.edu/VL/MBE.htm/st ate/0

Vapor phase epitaxy

1. Crystallization from vapor phase 2. Better purity and crystal perfection 3. Offers great flexibility in the actual fabrication of devices 4. Epitaxial layers are generally grown on Si substrates by the controlled deposition of Si atoms onto the surface from a chemical vapor containing Si
Ex: SiCl4 + 2H2 Si + 4HCl (for deposition as well as for etching)

Equipment for VPE

Properties of Epitaxial Layer

Crystallographic structure of film reproduces that of substrate Substrate defects reproduced in epi layer Electrical parameters of epi layer independent of substrate
Dopant concentration of substrate cannot be reduced Epitaxial layer with less dopant can be deposited

Epitaxial layer can be chemically purer than substrate Abrupt interfaces with appropriate methods

Applications
Engineered wafers
Clean, flat layer on top of less ideal Si substrate On top of SOI structures Ex.: Silicon on sapphire Higher purity layer on lower quality substrate (SiC)

In CMOS structures
Layers of different doping Ex. p- layer on top of p+ substrate to avoid latch-up

Surface of a GaAs film grown by liquid phase epitaxy on a single crystal GaAs substrate to improve on the quality. Crystal growth is very sensitive to growth temperature, cooling rate, super-saturation, defects and impurities.

The appearance of the surface gives a good indication of whether the growth conditions were appropriate. The terraces observed here are related to the unit cell of the crystal.