Crystalline Films on Amorphous Substrates by Zone Melting and Surface-Energy-Driven Grain Growth in Conjunction with Patferning

ABSTRACTTwo approaches to preparing oriented crystalline films on amorphous substrates are reviewed briefly: zone-melting recrystallization (ZMR) and surface-energy-driven grain growth (SEDGG). In both approaches patterning can be employed either to establish orientation or to control the location of defects. ZMR has been highly successful for the growth of Si films on oxidized Si substrates, but its applicability is limited by the high temperatures required. SEDGG has been investigated as a potentially universal, low temperature approach. It has been demonstrated in Si, Ge, and Au. Surface gratings favor the growth of grains with a specific in-plane orientation. In order for SEDGG to be of broad practical value, the mobility of semiconductor grain boundaries must be increased substantially. Mobility enhancement has been achieved via doping and ion bombardment.

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Rapid Epitaxial Growth of Si and SiGe Mono-Crystalline Films on Silicon-on-Glass Substrates by Reactive CVD Using SiH4, GeH4, and F2

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/opl.2012.867 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 1426 ◽

pp. 331-337

Author(s):

Hiroshi Noge ◽

Akira Okada ◽

Ta-Ko Chuang ◽

J. Greg Couillard ◽

Michio Kondo

Keyword(s):

Epitaxial Growth ◽

Heating Temperature ◽

Exothermic Reaction ◽

Epitaxial Films ◽

Si Substrates ◽

Glass Substrates ◽

Good Crystallinity ◽

Crystalline Films ◽

Si Films ◽

First Time

ABSTRACTWe have succeeded in the rapid epitaxial growth of Si, Ge, and SiGe films on Si substrates below 670 ºC by reactive CVD utilizing the spontaneous exothermic reaction between SiH4, GeH4, and F2. Mono-crystalline SiGe epitaxial films with Ge composition ranging from 0.1 to 1.0 have been successfully grown by reactive CVD for the first time.This technique has also been successfully applied to the growth of these films on silicon-on-glass substrates by a 20 - 50 ºC increase of the heating temperature. Over 10 μm thick epitaxial films at 3 nm/s growth rate are obtained. The etch pit density of the 5.2 μm-thick Si0.5Ge0.5 film is as low as 5 x 106 cm-2 on top. Mobilities of the undoped SiGe and Si films are 180 to 550 cm2/Vs, confirming the good crystallinity of the epitaxial films.

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Zone‐melting recrystallization of 3‐in.‐diam Si films on SiO2‐coated Si substrates

Applied Physics Letters ◽

10.1063/1.93456 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 41 (2) ◽

pp. 186-188 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

John C. C. Fan ◽

B‐Y. Tsaur ◽

R. L. Chapman ◽

M. W. Geis

Keyword(s):

Zone Melting ◽

Si Substrates ◽

Si Films

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Grain growth behavior of a nanostructured 5083 Al–Mg alloy

Journal of Materials Research ◽

10.1557/jmr.2001.0133 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 938-944 ◽

Cited By ~ 51

Author(s):

V. L. Tellkamp ◽

S. Dallek ◽

D. Cheng ◽

E. J. Lavernia

Keyword(s):

Activation Energy ◽

Stress Relaxation ◽

Low Temperature ◽

Grain Boundaries ◽

Relaxation Process ◽

Grain Growth ◽

Alloy Powder ◽

Growth Behavior ◽

Mg Alloy ◽

Grain Growth Behavior

A nanostructured 5083 Al–Mg alloy powder was subjected to various thermal heat treatments in an attempt to understand the fundamental mechanisms of recovery, recrystallization and grain growth as they apply to nanostructured materials. A low-temperature stress relaxation process associated with reordering of the grain boundaries was found to occur at 158 °C. A bimodal restructuring of the grains occurred at 307 °C for the unconstrained grains and 381 °C for the constrained grains. An approximate activation energy of 5.6 kJ/mol was found for the metastable nanostructured grains, while an approximate activation energy of 142 kJ/mol was found above the restructuring temperature.

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Secondary Grain Growth and Graphoepitaxy in thin Au films on Submicrometer-Period Gratings

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-47-35 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 47 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Chee C. Wong ◽

Henry I. Smith ◽

C. V. Thompson

Keyword(s):

Surface Energy ◽

Grain Growth ◽

Room Temperature ◽

Surface Patterning ◽

Wave Profile ◽

Periodic Surface ◽

Crystalline Films ◽

Artificial Surface ◽

Energy Anisotropy ◽

Oriented Parallel

ABSTRACTSecondary grain growth in thin Au films on SiO2 substrates with periodic surface relief structures was studied as a model for the application of graphoepitaxy (the growth of orientated crystalline films through the use of artificial surface patterning). Secondary grain growth driven by sur-face energy anisotropy produces grains many times larger than the film thickness with uniform texture. In thin films of Au on SiO2, surface-energy- driven secondary grain growth was found to occur at room temperature as soon as the film becomes continuous, and was shown to be responsible for the {111} deposition texture. A square-wave-profile grating of 0.2 μm period, etched into the surface of the substrate, resulted in preferred growth of {111}-textured grains with <112> directions oriented parallel to the grating axis. It is proposed that surface energy minimization is responsible for this phenomenon.

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SOI/CMOS circuits fabricated in zone-melting-recrystallized Si films on SiO2-coated Si substrates

IEEE Electron Device Letters ◽

10.1109/edl.1982.25613 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 3 (12) ◽

pp. 398-401 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

B.Y. Tsaur ◽

J.C.C. Fan ◽

R.L. Chapman ◽

M.W. Geis ◽

D.J. Silversmith ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Zone Melting ◽

Cmos Circuits ◽

Si Substrates ◽

Si Films ◽

Soi Cmos

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The Effects of Dopants on Surface-Energy-Driven Secondary Grain Growth in Ultrathin Si Films

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-54-729 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 54 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

H.-J. Kim ◽

C. V. Thompson

Keyword(s):

Surface Energy ◽

Grain Growth ◽

Ultrathin Films ◽

Abnormal Grain Growth ◽

Growth Enhancement ◽

Grain Boundary Mobility ◽

Additional Doping ◽

Heavily Doped ◽

Si Films ◽

P Type

ABSTRACTSecondary or abnormal grain growth has been observed in ultrathin films of silicon (<120nm) that were heavily doped with phosphorous or arsenic. This grain growth leads to grains which are much larger than the film thickness (>50x) and which have uniform (111) texture. This abnormal grain growth is believed to be driven, in part, by surface energy minimization and hence is termed surface-energy-driven secondary grain growth.It was found that n-type dopants, phosphorous and arsenic, markedly enhance the rate of secondary grain growth as seen through a lowering of the temperature required for significant growth. On the other hand, boron (a p-type dopant) appears to neither markedly increase nor decrease the rate of grain growth. Enhancement caused by phosphorous or arsenic is thought to stem from increases in the mobility of the grain boundaries. Enhancement of grain boundary mobility was found to be compensated (reduced or eliminated) by additional doping with boron.

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Silicon-On-Insulator Mosfets Fabricated in Zone-Melting-Recrystallized Poly-Si Films on SiO2

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-4-585 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

BY. Tsaur ◽

M. W. Gels ◽

John C. C. Fan ◽

D. J. Silversmith ◽

R. W. Mountain

Keyword(s):

Carrier Mobility ◽

High Surface ◽

Zone Melting ◽

Silicon On Insulator ◽

Surface Electron ◽

Leakage Currents ◽

Si Substrates ◽

Enhancement Mode ◽

Low Leakage ◽

Si Films

ABSTRACTN- and p-channel enhancement-mode MOSFETs have been fabricated in Si films prepared by zone-melting recrystallization of poly-Si deposited on SiO2-coated Si substrates. The transistors exhibit high surface mobilities, in the range of 560–620 cm2/V−s for electrons and 200–240 cm2/V−s for holes, and low leakage currents of the order of 0.1 pA/μm (channel width). Uniform device performance with a yield exceeding 90% has been measured in tests of more than 100 devices. The interface between the Si film and the SiO2 layer on the substrate is characterized by an oxide charge density of 1–2 × 1011 cm−2 and a high surface carrier mobility. N-channel MOSFETs fabricated inSi films recrystallized on SiO2-coated fused quartz subtrates exhibit surface electron mobilities substantially higher than those of single-crystal Si devices because the films are under a large tensile stress.

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Highly (200)-oriented Pt films on SiO2/Si substrates by seed selection through amorphization and controlled grain growth

Journal of Materials Research ◽

10.1557/jmr.1999.0641 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 14 (3) ◽

pp. 634-637 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Min Hong Kim ◽

Tae-Soon Park ◽

Dong-Su Lee ◽

Euijoon Yoon ◽

Dong-Yeon Park ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Surface Energy ◽

Magnetron Sputtering ◽

Grain Growth ◽

Intensity Ratio ◽

Strain Energy ◽

Seed Selection ◽

Dc Magnetron Sputtering ◽

Si Substrates ◽

Lower Strain ◽

Pt Films

Highly (200)-oriented Pt films on SiO2/Si substrates were successfully prepared by a combination of a dc magnetron sputtering using Ar/O2 gas mixtures and subsequent controlled annealing. The intensity ratio of (200) to (111) planes (I200/I111) was over 200. The (200)-oriented Pt microcrystallites were less susceptible to amorphization due to their lower strain energy with oxygen incorporation than (111)-oriented ones. The controlled grain growth from the selected (200)-oriented seed microcrystallites during subsequent annealing provided a kinetic pathway where grain growth of the seed microcrystallites was predominant, while suppressing the nucleation of surface energy-driven, (111)-oriented seed microcrystallites and subsequent (111) preferred orientation.

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