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Effect of Biaxial Stress on Solid Phase Epitaxy of Silicon
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 February 2011
Abstract
The effect of biaxial stress on solid phase epitaxial growth (SPEG) rate of crystalline Si(100) into self-implanted amorphous surface layer has been measured. Biaxial stresses in the crystalline and amorphous phases were generated by bending the silicon wafer using the residual stresses in Ge films deposited on the back side of the wafer. Stresses were determined at SPEG temperatures by optical measurements of wafer bending curvatures. Tensile stresses up to 13 MPa in the crystalline phase and 34 MPa in the amorphous phasewere achieved during SPEG at 530ºC. An optical system based on the time-resolved reflectivity (TRR) technique was devised to measure the growth rates of two adjacent samples during a single SPEG run. This enables a direct comparison of the growth rates under different stress conditions without concern for run-to-run temperature variations. We found that the growth kinetics in all the samples were retarded as the c/a interface approached the free surface. However, the extent of this rateretardation was reducedin the stressed samples, leading to stress-enhanced growth kinetics. We speculate that the application of the biaxial tensile stresses might slow down the incorporation of hydrogen into the amorphous phase, a mechanism for the rate-retardation.
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- Copyright © Materials Research Society 1992
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