Amorphous-Si/crystalline-Si facet formation during Si solid-phase epitaxy near Si/SiO2 boundary

Abstract
Amorphous‐Si (a‐Si)/crystalline‐Si (c‐Si) interface facet formation was found during Si solid‐phase epitaxy (SPE) near the Si/SiO2 boundary. A (110) facet is formed during (010)b‐[100]SPE (SPE growth in the [100] direction and near the (010) boundary between a‐Si and SiO2). A (111) facet is formed during (011)b‐[100]SPE. The facet formation is explained with an atomistic model wherein an a‐Si atom must complete at least two undistorted bonds to attain SPE growth, and the boundary condition wherein an a‐Si atom cannot form undistorted bond to Si/SiO2 boundary.