The Selective Epitaxial Growth of Silicon by Using Silicon Nitride Film as a Mask

Abstract
The selective epitaxial growth of Si through the window in silicon nitride film is studied for the SiCl4-H2 system. Experiments prove that the silicon nitride film is extremely stable compared with the usual silicon dioxide film. To find out the necessary conditions for the selective epitaxial growth, the growth rates of Si on silicon nitride film and on silicon bare surface are obtained independently from the experiment. The critical SiCl4 pressure for the nucleation on silicon nitride film is determined as a function of growth temperature. The experimental results are explained by the nucleation theory.