Low-temperature SOI (Si-on-insulator) formation by lateral solid-phase epitaxy

Abstract
Low‐temperature (550–600 °C) formation of a Si‐on‐insulator structure by a solid‐phase process is investigated. A microprobe (μ) reflection high‐energy electron diffraction observation reveals that oriented crystal growth propagates from the seeding area in solid‐phase epitaxy (SPE). The effects of random nucleation, epitaxial alignment, and local doping on lateral (L)‐SPE are examined. As a result, a relatively large L‐SPE area, 14 μm from the seeding area, is achieved on insulating regions. Crystal quality and electrical properties of L‐SPE layers are examined using μ‐Raman spectroscopy and field‐effect transistor fabrication. A small stress field, 2.5×109 dyn/cm2, and high electron mobility, 720 cm2/V s, comparable to that of bulk Si are obtained.