Explanation of the limiting thickness observed in low-temperature silicon epitaxy
- 27 November 2000
- journal article
- Published by AIP Publishing in Applied Physics Letters
- Vol. 77 (22) , 3589-3591
- https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1328767
Abstract
Solution of the partial differential equation for diffusion of mobile atoms during solid film growth demonstrates that the observed phase transition in low-temperature silicon epitaxy is triggered by supersaturation of the growing layer with hydrogen. The limiting thickness of the epitaxial layer, hepi, is completely determined by measurable quantities: the flux of hydrogen, the hydrogen diffusion coefficient, and the layer growth rate. Our model accounts for the observed Arrhenius and growth rate dependence of hepi.Keywords
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