Atomic force microscopy and ellipsometry study of the nucleation and growth mechanism of polycrystalline silicon films on silicon dioxide

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Abstract
The primary purpose of this research was to elucidate the mechanism of Si nucleation on SiO2 in a rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition (RTCVD) environment. To this end a combination of in situ real time ellipsometry and atomic force microscopy (AFM) to follow the RTCVD process in real time and measure key nucleation parameters was used. Real time ellipsometry data, in terms of Δ versus time, show significant changes as the deposition evolves from critical nuclei through coalescence to continuous film growth. From these data nuclei parameters such as the incubation time (tinc), coalescence point, nuclei density, and nuclei size are obtained from nucleation models. From the AFM images, nuclei parameters such as nuclei height, radius, and density were collected and compared across processing temperatures. It was found that kinetics rather than thermodynamics controls nuclei growth, and the mechanism depended upon the temperature regime (pressure not varied) due to the higher activation energy (212 kJ/mol) for vertical growth relative to lateral growth (167 kJ/mol). A transition temperature (∼600 °C) was identified where the size, shape, and density of the nuclei abruptly change from small numerous nuclei at temperatures less than 660 °C to large, sparse, disklike nuclei for temperatures greater than 660 °C. The temperature regime also affected the shape of the nuclei during growth with low temperature nuclei becoming flatter with time as the adatoms attached to the nuclei circumference, whereas high temperature nuclei grew taller with time. It is demonstrated that the RTCVD temperature regime dictates both the initial nuclei size and the nuclei growth mechanism with high temperature processes (i.e., highest adatom mobility), yielding the lowest nuclei density, largest nuclei, and roughest final Si film.