Silicon epitaxy on H-terminated Si (100) surfaces at 250° C

Published

March 31, 2016

Author(s)

Xiao Deng, Pradeep N. Namboodiri, Kai Li, Xiqiao Wang, Gheorghe Stan, Alline F. Myers, Xinbin Cheng, Tongbao Li, Richard M. Silver

Abstract

Silicon on silicon growth at low temperatures has become increasing important due to its use to encapsulate buried nanoscale dopant devices. The performance of atomic scale devices is fundamentally affected by the quality of the silicon matrix in which the dopants reside. Here, we have performed a systematic study in the sub monolayer and extended it to a thickness regime of 20 nm. Sub-monolayer to 18 nm thick silicon was evaporated using an all-silicon sublimation source (SUSI) onto a UHV prepared Si (100) sample at 250 °C and the growth morphology is studied using an ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy (UHV-STM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). These results are systematically compared with the growth characteristics on hydrogen terminated silicon (H: Si) surfaces as routinely encountered in atomic scale hydrogen lithography. STM images indicate that growth morphology of both Si on Si and Si on H: Si is of an epitaxial nature at temperatures as low as 250 °C. For Si on bare Si growth at 250 °C, we show that a stable thickness regime exists where the Si epitaxial growth front maintains a stable morphology. Although the in-plane mobility of silicon is affected on the H: Si surface because of the H atoms during the initial sub-monolayer growth, the epitaxial growth proceeds with a 3D island growth mode and noticeable surface roughening.

Citation

Applied Surface Science

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

Si epitaxy, Si overgrowth, Si mobility, H terminated Si surface, H segregation

Citation

Deng, X. , Namboodiri, P. , Li, K. , Wang, X. , Stan, G. , Myers, A. , Cheng, X. , Li, T. and Silver, R. (2016), Silicon epitaxy on H-terminated Si (100) surfaces at 250° C, Applied Surface Science, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=920036 (Accessed February 15, 2025)